"I have read on the DEFRA UK website that the French authorities now require any dog resident in France for at least 3 months to be officially identified and registered on a national database (they can be identified either by a tattoo or ISO standard microchip). Please could tell me how I would go about registering my two dogs on the database and whether they would need to be tattooed in addition to having their microchips?"
Helen Taggart, by email

By law, all pets must be identified and registered with the French authorities. For microchips and dog tatoos are registered on the "SIEV" database and the "Fichier Félin" database for cat tatoos. Animals entering France must be identified within 3 months subsequent to date of entry. Tatooing still exists for dogs and cats as mentioned above, but is declining rapidly as this technique is a national system of marking peculiar to France and Belgium and requires an general anesthetic, whereas the microchip is European and does not.I therefore strongly recommend that the microchip is chosen.

The procedure is very simple, a chip the size of a grain of rice is inserted into the neck of the animal by means of an injector. This process is almost painless, although a light tranquilizer or local anesthetic may be administered to nervous animals. The microchip is necessary for the "Pet Travel Scheme", the system enabling animals to enter the U.K. without quarantine. I would strongly recommend that expat pet owners consider putting their pets through the Pet Travel Scheme, even if they do not intend to return to Britain in the near future. For further details concerning the microchip and Pet Travel Scheme, a local veterinary surgeon can furnish all information necessary.
Nigel Gittins

From Reporter 105 - Oct/Nov 2004

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