Certificate of commitment and knowledge: what a shelter needs to know

Who must sign it, and for which animals?

The French law of 30 November 2021 against animal mistreatment requires any individual who acquires a companion animal, whether they buy it or are given it, to sign a certificate of commitment and knowledge of the needs of the species. Dogs and cats are concerned, as are ferrets and pet rabbits. One certificate is needed per species.

The obligation applies to the first acquisition of an animal of the species. A person who has already presented a certificate for that species receives instead an information document on the animal’s needs.

Equines come under a separate regime.

What the certificate must contain

The acquirer signs the certificate and adds a handwritten statement by which they expressly undertake to respect the animal’s needs. The templates published by the French Ministry of Agriculture are examples: their form is not compulsory.

The certificate sets out, for the species concerned:

• the animal’s physiological, behavioural and medical needs;
• the identification requirements;
• what keeping it involves, in cost and in organisation, throughout its life.

Who can issue it?

The certificate is issued by a person who meets one of the qualification requirements for carrying on an activity involving companion animals: a professional qualification, a certificate of knowledge (ACACED) or the former certificate of competence (certificat de capacité). This may be a vet, or the person in charge of a shelter or an animal rescue.

The person who issues the certificate is not necessarily the one who transfers the animal, and it can be delivered remotely.

The seven-day waiting period

The animal cannot be transferred less than seven days after the certificate is issued to the acquirer. The starting point is indeed the issue, not the signature: the Conseil d’État (France’s highest administrative court) reaffirmed this on 21 March 2025, annulling on this point the ministerial instruction that took the signature as the starting point.

Neither the law nor the decree provides for any exception to this period.

What the shelter or rescue must check

Whoever transfers the animal makes sure that the acquirer has signed the certificate and that it was issued to them at least seven days earlier. Keeping a copy of the certificate is not required by the texts, but it is recommended: it is the proof that the check was made.

Failing to make sure of the signature is punishable by a third-class fine (contravention de troisième classe).

The other adoption documents

The certificate does not replace the other documents for the transfer of a dog or a cat:

• a transfer certificate (attestation de cession), dated and signed by both parties;
• a veterinary certificate;
• an information document on the animal’s needs, when the acquirer has no certificate to sign;
• the identification of the animal, compulsory before any transfer, and the declaration of the change of keeper to the national database.