Breeding dogs and cats: what are the regulations?

Sale of a single litter per year

The declarations you must make before any sale of an animal vary depending on whether or not you meet the following conditions:

• You only breed breed dogs or cats that you enter in the herd books (LOF - Book of French Origins - or LOOF- Official Book of Feline Origins)
• And you declare to the herd books all litters from dogs or cats that you hold and each litter has a specific number.

Sale of several litters per year

You must declare the creation of your farm to theInpi: titleContent.

To do this, you must file a declaration file for the creation of a farm company with the one-stop shop.

Window of company formalities

Following this declaration, your farm is listed in the register Mermaid: titleContent and you receive a Siren number and a Siret number.

You must also declare your breeding activity to the DDPP: titleContent or the DDETSPP: titleContent of the department in which your breeding establishment will be located at least 30 days before any sale of animals.

To make this declaration, you must have the Siret number of your breeding establishment.

This declaration is made on the national basis of operators dogs, cats and ferrets.

National Operator Base - Dogs, Cats and Ferrets

You must attach to your declaration the designation form of your veterinary health that you will need to scan.

At the end of your declaration, a declaration receipt is issued to you.

Failure to make a declaration shall be punishable by €30,000 of a fine.

The declaration must be renewed at the following events:

• Change of person in charge of the breeding establishment
• Changing the nature of your business
• Change in held species
• Any substantial change in the conditions of accommodation of the animals (including change of veterinary health service).

Appointment of a health veterinarian

You must designate a veterinary health. The declaration shall be made by means of form cerfa n°15983:

Designation of the veterinary surgeon by the animal keeper

This statement should be sent to the DDPP: titleContent or the DDETSPP: titleContent of the department of the place of breeding:

Health regulations

You must establish, in collaboration with your health veterinarian, a health regulation to safeguard the health and welfare of animals and the public health and, where appropriate, the hygiene of your staff.

The health regulations shall include at least:

• A plan for cleaning and disinfecting premises and equipment
• Hygiene rules to be respected by staff or the public
• Animal care and maintenance procedures including health surveillance, prophylaxis, and measures to be taken in the event of a health event
• The procedure and duration of quarantine for newly introduced and healthy-looking animals.

The health regulations shall be revised as necessary, in collaboration with the designated health veterinarian.

You ensure that your staff have the means and training to enforce these regulations.

All your premises, facilities, equipment and equipment used for animal care are kept in perfect condition of maintenance and cleanliness.

The cleaning circuit must be organized so as to separate clean and dirty streams.

The cleaning and disinfection plan shall provide, for each of the equipment and the different parts of the premises:

• The frequency of the different cleaning and disinfection operations
• The precise operating procedure comprising, in particular, for each product used, the dilution, the temperature of use, the application time and the need for any rinsing
• The person responsible for cleaning and disinfection operations for each sector.

This cleaning and disinfection plan also includes the control of species that may cause damage. Where possible, repellent methods are favored, as well as methods of trapping without destroying populations.

You must have the health veterinarian visit the premises at least twice a year.

However, if you are a dog breeder keeping fewer than 10 dogs over 4 months old or a cat breeder keeping fewer than 10 cats over 4 months old, you can have the veterinary surgeon visit your premises once a year, in the absence of any malfunction harmful to the animals.

Health surveillance

You must inform the veterinary health officer without delay of any abnormal mortality or repeated morbidity of the animals.

If you learn that an animal you have kept has a contagious disease that could justify a request for cancelation of the sale by the buyer, you must inform as soon as possible the people who bought an animal that has been in contact with the sick animal.

Diseases constituting prohibitive defects which can justify a request for cancelation of the sale are the following:

For the canine species:

• The disease of Carré
• Contagious hepatitis (Rubarth's disease)
• Canine parvovirosis
• Coxofemoral dysplasia; for animals sold before the age of one year, the results of all radiographic examinations performed until that age are taken into account to request the cancelation of the sale
• Testicular ectopy for animals older than 6 months
• Retinal atrophy.

For the feline species:

• Infectious leukopenia
• Feline infectious peritonitis
• Infection with feline leukemia virus
• Infection with the immunosuppressive virus.

This information shall be entered in the animal health and health monitoring register.

Animal health and health monitoring register

You must maintain and be able to present a health and animal health record at any request from veterinary services.

This register includes information on sick or injured animals, reports of visits by your health veterinarian, proposals for amending the health regulations.

The animal health and health monitoring register shall include information on the animal health status, care and veterinary interventions carried out.

It shall contain the following information for each animal:

• Species
• Sex
• Name
• Identification number
• Description (including race or racial type, color of dress, special signs if applicable)
• Date of birth.

The register shall also include the following additional information:

• General condition of an animal on entering and leaving the establishment
• Copy of the veterinary certificate, or reference to the health certificates if they are classified in a specific binder, accessible on request by control officers
• Copy of behavioral assessment
• Reports of visits by the veterinary surgeon, signed by the veterinary surgeon
• Proposals for amendments to the health regulations, signed by the health veterinarian
• Veterinary prescriptions corresponding to the medications prescribed by a veterinarian or prescription number if they are classified in a specific binder, accessible at the request of control officers
• Isolation of an animal for health reasons and justification
• Individual accommodation of an animal for behavioral reasons and justification
• Vaccinations and other prophylactic treatments
• Memorials, symptoms, complementary examinations, diagnosis, medical treatments
• Possible reference to individual care monitoring sheets
• Suspected infection or infection with a regulated disease
• Declaration of a prohibitive defect, including in case of post-sale reporting
• Surgical operations including sterilization and cesarean section
• Absence of contraindications to pregnancy
• Cause of death of an animal
• Reason for euthanasia
• Report of an autopsy signed by the veterinarian who performed it
• Reformation of an animal and, if necessary, a certificate of contraindication to sterilization before reformation signed by the veterinarian
• Unfit for training or public presentation.

If you choose to use means other than paper, including computer, to maintain your health and health record, these means must provide control guarantees equivalent to paper.

A non-editable, numbered and dated computer version must be created and saved every six months. Where appropriate, a paper version should be available for printing at the request of the control officers.

Any volume of the register must be kept for 3 years from the last entry in the register.

In case of apparent excess mortality in the entry and exit register, the reasons for this excess mortality shall be investigated and recorded in the animal health and health monitoring register.

Corrective and preventive actions validated by a veterinarian are put in place to avoid reproducing this excess mortality.

The corrective and preventive actions put in place are recorded in the animal health and health monitoring register and endorsed by the health veterinarian.

General rules

The rearing activity shall be carried out in premises designed to meet the following requirements:

• Protect animals from excessive climatic conditions, sources of contamination, injuries, nuisance and stress
• Meet the biological, physiological and behavioral needs of the species and breeds held
• Enabling reproductive control
• Preventing the escape of animals
• Facilitate cleaning and disinfection operations
• Enable the implementation of good hygiene practices by preventing sources of contamination and avoiding cross-contamination, in particular by respecting the principle of moving forward in space and/or time
• Facilitate by their arrangement the observation of animals.

In particular, your establishment must have the following facilities:

• One healthy sector, corresponding to suitable premises, facilities and equipment for providing accommodation, watering, food, comfort, free movement, occupation, expression of behavioral needs, safety and tranquility of kept animals
• A room away from the healthy area, for the accommodation of sick or injured animals and specially arranged so as to carry out the care of the animals in good hygiene conditions and to avoid contagious animals being a source of contamination for other animals
• A maternity ward specially designed for the delivery of pregnant females, the maintenance of litters and adults
• A water supply of quality appropriate to the different uses
• A hand wash supplied with hot and cold water or a hygienic hand washing device in the premises where the animals are handled
• Adequate equipment to store food, bedding, care equipment and medicines in good conditions of hygiene and safety, cleaning and disinfection equipment
• A hygienic system for collecting, storing and disposing of waste and dirty water
• If necessary, a sealed and closed container, allowing the storage of corpses at negative temperature
• A detection system and a fire-fighting system.

Specific provisions for dogs

Your breeding premises must be arranged in such a way as to offer the following guarantees:

• A minimum space for the accommodation of a dog whose size is less than 70 centimeters at the withers of 5 m² per dog and a height of 2 meters
• A minimum space for the accommodation of a dog whose size is greater than 70 centimeters at the withers of 10 m² per dog and 2 meters high.

All or part of these accommodation spaces must be sheltered from the weather and the sun.

These accommodation areas may be reduced in isolation rooms for the time required to treat a sick animal.

Unweaned puppies can be accommodated on these minimum areas of 5 or 10 m² with their mother, as long as the animals can move freely.

If your premises were built before July 3, 2025, a 10 m accommodation² can accommodate up to 2 dogs over 70 centimeters at the withers.

Dogs must have permanent access to an open-air courtyard, the surface of which is adapted to their needs depending on the breed. This obligation does not apply to facilities or premises constructed before 1^er January 2015 and whose activity has been duly declared before 1^er January 2015. The floor of the duvets must be designed and maintained so as not to cause nuisance, health risk and guarantee the well-being conditions of the dogs.

Dogs must be able to move freely, without hindrance and without discomfort. They can only be attached occasionally, under surveillance.

Dogs, with the exception of animals that are sick or temporarily isolated for health reasons, regardless of their age and method of detention, are taken out as much as necessary, outdoors every day, so that they can have a good time, play with each other and interact positively with humans.

They must have an outdoor exercise area of appropriate design and size.

Time slots for the exit of animals must be included in a document displayed or presented at the request of the control officers.

The use and teaching of methods and tools which may cause injury, suffering, pain, stress or fear to animals shall be prohibited, including any puncture, electrical or strangulation device without a stop loop except the catch pole where its use is necessary to ensure the safety of persons or animals.

The wearing of the muzzle is limited, except special regulations, in necessary cases, to exits outside the establishment, in contact with the public, to 1^res contact with congeners, education or rehabilitation sessions and manipulations for the realization of care.

Specific provisions for cats

Your breeding premises will have to be arranged in such a way as to guarantee a minimum space for the accommodation of a cat of 2 m² by cat.

All or part of this accommodation space is sheltered from the weather and the sun.

This accommodation surface can be reduced in isolation rooms for the time of treatment of a sick animal.

The accommodation space must have sufficient platforms at different levels in order to offer each cat a rest and observation area and an opportunity to stay away from other cats.

The surface of the platforms allowing the bed is counted in the 2 m² by cat.

Unweaned kittens can be accommodated on this minimum surface of 2 m² with their mother, as long as the animals can move freely.

Cats should have comfortable diapers, hiding places and scratching posts in sufficient numbers.

They must have a sufficient number of litter boxes and an appropriate surface area, with adequate and absorbent litter.

General rule

You can only sell animals from your own farm. You must be the holder of your breeding females and the litters you breed.

Before each sale, you must physically present the mother of the puppy or kitten to the future buyer.

Prohibition on transferring an animal to a minor

It is forbidden to sell (or give free of charge) an animal to a minor without parental consent or persons exercising theparental authority.

Minimum age of the animal

A puppy or kitten must be older than 8 weeks (more than 2 months) to be sold.

Identification of the animal

The cat or dog must must be identified by electronic chip (or tattoo) and registered in the national identification file of domestic carnivores (Icad).

A dog or cat cannot be given away without being identified.

Identification must be made at your expense before the assignment of the animal.

Identification is performed by a licensed veterinarian or tattoo artist.

Identification allows the animal to be assigned a unique number and to register the name and address of its owner in the Icad.

The identification of the animal makes it possible to identify and contact its owner if the animal is found after being lost or stolen. It is also a guarantee of its origin and a means of combating trafficking.

The veterinarian conducting the identification shall immediately issue you with a provisional certificate of identification.

It shall also inform Icad of this identification within 8 days.

The Icad draws up and sends you the definitive identification card of your pet.

You must:

• Deliver immediately to the new owner of the animal a document attesting to the identification
• And address within 8 days the document attesting to the change of holder at Icad.

Mandatory information in the offer to sell

Offers to sell pets online (on the internet) are prohibited.

However, some websites may publish offers for the online sale of pets (cat, dog, other) provided that they are presented in a specific section for pets and that this heading contains awareness and information messages of the keeper in respect of the act of acquisition of an animal.

Only the breeders (and sellers) can disseminate on the internet of announcements to sell cats or dogs.

Any offer to sell a dog or cat must contain the following information :

• Scientific and vernacular names of species and breed
• Mention of breed if the dog or cat is registered in the LOF or LOOF and identification number of the female that gave birth to the animal offered for sale and number of animals in the litter. In other cases, the does not belong to a breed shall be indicated, the of appearance followed by the name of a breed can be used if you can guarantee the morphological appearance of that breed in adulthood
• Sex of the animal
• Place of birth
• Number of breeding females in the farm and number of litters of breeding females in the past year
• Animal identification number
• Age of the animal
• Siren and Siret numbers of your farm, or if you are a breeder not subject to the obligation to declare in the Sirene register, registration number of the litter in the breeding book to which the animal offered for sale belongs
• Price of the animal.

The public communication service or advertiser verifies that the mandatory information mentioned above is indeed included in your advertisement.

It also verifies the identity of the owner of the animal and that the mandatory information in the advertisement is in accordance with the information recorded in the Icad).

The advertisement published must be controlled by the communication service or the advertiser and include the mention verified ad.

Certificate of commitment and knowledge

You must verify that the prospective buyer has signed to the buyer a certificate of commitment and knowledge of the specific needs of the species and keep a copy of it.

A period of 7 days after the issuance of the certificate of commitment and knowledge is mandatory before any transfer of dog or cat. This means that you cannot, as a breeder, deliver this document to the future buyer and sell him the same day a dog or a cat.

This certificate of commitment and knowledge:

• Specifies the physiological, behavioral and medical needs of the animal
• Recalls the obligations relating to the identification of the animal.
• Mention the financial and logistical implications of meeting the physiological, behavioral and medical needs of the animal throughout its life.

The certificate of commitment and knowledge must include a handwritten mention of the buyer by which it expressly undertakes to respect the needs of the animal.

Documents to be given to the buyer

You must give the buyer the following documents:

• Certificate of transfer
• Veterinary certificate of less than 3 months issued by a veterinarian in the light of the information brought to his knowledge and an examination of the dog or cat
• Information document if the future purchaser has already acquired an animal of the same species and presents his certificate of commitment and knowledge for this previous acquisition

The veterinary certificate shall contain the following information:

• Your name, address and company name
• Document justifying the identification of the animal at ICAD
• If the animal has a European pet passport, passport number
• If the animal is sterilized, veterinary certificate of sterilization
• If the animal is vaccinated, vaccinations are carried out
• In the case of a purebred dog or cat, a copy of the declaration of birth entered in the breeding book (LOF - Book of French Origins - or LOOF - Official Book of Feline Origins)
• If it is a dog, date and result of the last behavioral assessment if it was done
• If it is a dog of 2nd category, the category to which the dog belongs.

To establish this certificate, the veterinarian examines the apparent state of health of the dog or cat.

It checks the consistency between the morphology and the breed indicated in the animal identification document.

If you do not have a copy of the declaration of birth entered in the herd book, the veterinarian indicates on the certificate that the dog or cat does not belong to a breed.

The mention of appearance followed by a breed name can be registered based on your information.

The veterinarian shall transfer this information to the veterinary certificate.

It may specify the breed of the dog or cat on the basis of the copy of the birth declaration entered in the herd book.

It shall state the date of the examination and shall stamp and sign it.

If the breed is not consistent with that specified on the identification document, the veterinarian shall indicate this on the certificate.