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PETS

EXPLAINED: The ways you can adopt a pet in France

As new rules for buying pets come into force, we discuss the ways you can legally become a pet owner in France.

Published: 4 January 2024 17:08 CET
EXPLAINED: The ways you can adopt a pet in France
An abandoned dog at a shelter near Paris (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP)

A new measure banning prospective pet owners from purchasing dogs or cats in pet stores (animaleries) came into effect in France at the start of January 2024.

The measure is part of a wider law against animal abuse passed in 2021, and is intended to combat impulse purchases of cats and dogs.

Store-bought animals

You can still buy, if you are so inclined, snakes, reptiles, rabbits, rodents, birds, and fish at a pet store.

If you do go into an animalerie, or the pet section of a large garden centre, you may still see dogs and cats for sale. 

These will be rescue animals that have been abandoned or lost and not reclaimed, and any sales must be done “in partnership with animal protection organisations”. 

Where else could you look for a pet?

READ ALSO What you need to know about owning a dog in France

Shelters

Around 300,000 pets are abandoned every year in France, so if you want to adopt, rest assured there are many lovely cats and dogs in shelters looking for a good home.

French animal welfare charity the Société Protectrice des Animaux (SPA) is an excellent place to start – on January 4th, 2024, it listed more than 4,100 animals available for adoption. 

Local animal rescue centres are also usually full of pets that are up for adoption.

Be aware that people under the age of 18 cannot legally adopt a pet. The SPA, for example, demands that would-be adopters are of legal age and are willing to take part in a “responsible adoption process”.

READ ALSO What you need to know about microchipping your pet in France

This may include home visits, interviews and discussions to help adopters find the animal to which they are best suited – older people may not cope well with an energetic puppy, for example, while not all pets are well-suited to the semi-organised chaos of a large and boisterous family.

In fact, the whole process of adopting a pet from a French animal shelter takes time and commitment. And money.

The SPA, for example, asks for a donation to cover vets’ fees of between €250 and €300 for a dog, depending on its age, and €150 for a cat or a kitten.

Another well-known animal welfare organisation in France, Les Amis des Animaux, has a slightly different scale of fees covering the cost of chipping, vaccinations – including rabies/passport in mature animals, sterilisation, worming, and so on.

READ MORE: How to adopt a pet from a French animal shelter

Go to a breeder

An individual who owns a breeding female and who sells her puppies or kittens is automatically considered a breeder and subject to certain legal obligations.

Animal breeders must be properly registered, and have a Siren and a Siret number. There are very specific rules about who is and is not an animal breeder.

Be aware that certain breeds of dog cannot be offered for sale in France.

READ ALSO Do you really need a licence if your cat has kittens in France?

Online

Only breeders and professional animal dealers are allowed to advertise animals for sale online, while websites, such as Le Bon Coin, that publish offers for the sale of pets must publish them in a section specific to pets.

Websites that have these sections must ensure that those selling animals online are legally permitted to do so before any adverts go online – and any such advert must contain a “verified ad” reference. If an online advert does not include this wording, avoid…

Le Bon Coin, meanwhile, has banned the advertising of ‘wild animals’, such as reptiles or ferrets, confining its dedicated section to the sale, by breeders, of domesticated animals.

Person-to-person sales

An individual who has not registered as a breeder can only occasionally sell adult animals, and cannot advertise any animal for sale online. No individual may sell puppies or kittens. An individual may, however, offer pets for free online.

READ ALSO Paperwork and shots: How to bring a pet to France from the USA

And afterwards

First-time buyers of cats or dogs have to sign a ‘certificate of commitment and understanding’ before they will be allowed to buy an animal, and the same applies to those looking to adopt.

After the signed document is delivered to the authorities, future owners have seven days to change their mind.

Furthermore, under French law, pet dogs – and cats and ferrets – over a certain age must be identified and registered on a national database.

The animal must be identifiable by a tattoo or microchip – the latter is the most common method these days – that must be registered on the Identification des carnivores domestiques (I-CAD) database.

The procedure to insert the microchip, or ink the tattoo, must be carried out by a vet and costs between €40 and €70. If the animal is already chipped, the shelter will be able to help with amending details on the database.

You can read additional rules on the care and maintenance of pets, here.

Documents

This is France. Of course there are documents. When buying an animal from a pet store, breeder, or adopting from a shelter, you should receive the following documents:

  • Certificate of transfer of ownership;
  • Veterinary certificate less than three months old issued by a veterinarian based on the information brought to his attention and an examination of the dog or cat;
  • Information on the characteristics and needs of the animal containing, if necessary, education advice, if you have already acquired an animal of the same species and presented your certificate of commitment and knowledge for this previous one acquisition.

Furthermore, the veterinary certificate must contain the following information.

  • Identity, address, and company name of the previous owner, if they are a breeder, or an animal protection association;
  • Document justifying the identification of the animal in the national file for the identification of domestic carnivores (Icad);
  • If the animal has a European pet passport, passport number;
  • If the animal is sterilised, a veterinary certificate of sterilisation;
  • If the animal is vaccinated, evidence of vaccinations carried out;
  • If it is a purebred dog or cat, copy of the registered birth declaration;
  • If it is a dog, the date and result of the last behavioral evaluation if it was carried out.

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SCHOOLS

Are packed lunches really banned in French schools?

School children in France are entitled to a lunchtime meal of three, or even four courses – but what if you prefer to provide meals yourself? 

Published: 22 May 2024 12:24 CEST
Are packed lunches really banned in French schools?

French school meals are, famously, pretty good – children get a three or even four-course meal of properly prepared dishes and the menu (including cheese course) is usually published in the local town newsletter so everyone can see the types of meals being served.

The concept of a proper meal at lunchtime is an important one. “The diet of a school-age child is essential for their growth, mental development and learning abilities,” the French Education Ministry says in a preamble about school meals on its website. “It must be balanced, varied and distributed throughout the day: for example 20 percent of total energy in the morning, 40 percent at midday, 10 percent at four o’clock and 30 percent in the evening.”

And it’s not all about nutrition, the social aspect of sitting together and eating a meal is also important – the ministry continues: “Mealtime is an opportunity for students to relax and communicate. It should also be a time for discovery and enjoyment.”

All schools provide meals in a canteen and most pupils take up the opportunity – however it’s also possible for pupils to go home at lunchtime so that they can eat lunch with their parents.

The idea of taking in a packed lunch (panier-repas) is much less common in France – but is it actually banned?

The rules on lunch

At écoles (up to age 11), the local authority or établissement public de coopération intercommunale (EPCI) is responsible for providing quality school meals. This generally involves meals being provided via a central kitchen, and then delivered to the school’s kitchen, where it can be kept warm, or reheated as necessary.

The system is slightly different in collèges and lycées (attended by children aged 11 and up). In those establishments, catering falls into the purview of the wider département or region – and is routinely managed directly by individual establishments, which will have catering staff on site to prepare meals. Often, meal services are outsourced to private businesses, which operate the kitchens.

There are various rules and regulations in place regarding what food is offered, and how long a child has to eat – which is, in part, why the school lunch period is so long. Children must be allowed a 30-minute period to eat their meal, from the moment they sit down with it at the table. 

Then, they’re given time to play and relax before afternoon classes start.

READ ALSO What you need to know if your child is starting school in France

At a minimum lunch must include a main course with a side dish, a dairy-based product, as well as a starter and/or a dessert. Meals must also, the government says, be composed of 50 percent sustainable quality products (including 20 percent organic).

Some local authorities go further and serve only or mostly food that is organic, locally sourced or both.

Water and bread must be freely available, but salt and condiments can only be added in preparation – no sauce bottles or salt and pepper on the tables. 

Daily menus are generally available to view on school websites and many town newspapers or newsletters also publish them.

Parents pay a fee for the school lunch, which is calculated according to income and can be free in the case of low-income families.

Packed lunch

But what if your child doesn’t like the school lunches and you don’t have time to pick them up, cook a full lunch and take them back in the afternoon everyday? The obvious solution would seem to be to send them in with a packed lunch, as is common in the UK and USA.

In theory this is possible, but only in certain circumstances and with very strict rules and caveats. 

The Ministry, in a written response to a Senator’s question in 2019, said: “The use of packed lunches [home-supplied meals] by primary school students can provide an alternative to school meals. This method of catering is authorised in particular for children with a medically established food allergy or intolerance, requiring an adapted diet.”

READ ALSO How to enrol a non-French speaking child in school in France

It added: “the preparation and use of packed lunches in schools must follow certain rules. First of all, it is important to respect the cold chain”.

The cold chain is a term applied to food handling and distribution – it’s usually used by food-preparation businesses, but in the context of a packed lunch it means that food prepared at home must be kept in appropriately cool conditions until it is ready to eat. It would be the responsibility of parents to ensure that the food is delivered to school in containers appropriate for the job (ie an insulated cool bag).

Once at the school, it is up to whoever manages the kitchen to ensure that food is properly reheated. This becomes the sticking point at which many parents’ requests to send their children to school with a packed lunch, rather than go to the canteen, or eat back at home, are refused.

The reheating concern suggests that schools are also expecting parents to prepare a proper meal – rather than just throwing some sandwiches and a cereal bar into a bag.

Unless there’s a genuine and proven health reason for your child to eat a home-prepared meal, most parents will probably find the school won’t budge on this – even in cases of a strike by kitchen staff or lunch monitors.

READ ALSO Just how much do private schools in France cost?

The Ministry’s written response explains: “[A]s this is an optional public service, the municipality can justify its refusal to admit the children concerned by objective material and financial constraints, such as the need to equip itself with additional refrigerators, or for additional supervisory staff to supervise them during lunch.”

As well as the practicalities, for some schools this is an equality issue – because of the varied fee structure for school lunches what happens in effect is that richer parents are subsidising a good quality lunchtime meal for poorer students in the class; if everyone brought in a packed lunch and therefore stopped paying the fee, the lower-income kids would miss out. 

What about allergies or other health issues?

Children with allergies or other health issues that require a particular diet must be accommodated. An individual meal plan – known as a projet d’accueil individualisé (PAI) can be set up. More details (in French) are available here, on the government’s website.

It also becomes easier for parents to provide home-produced meals in such instances. As ever, it is up to the parents to ensure any meals are appropriately packaged and transported to school.

Not all schools

Some individual schools in France do permit pupils to bring in meals from home. They must be taken to school in an appropriate cold-storage container, and they will be stored in the kitchen area until they are needed, when meals will – if necessary – be reheated.

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