Entry and exit register: what French law requires of a shelter

Who must keep a register?

The French Rural Code requires two registers of the person in charge of a shelter or a pound, as it does of dog and cat breeding establishments and boarding establishments: a register of animal entries and exits, and a register of sanitary and health monitoring. They must be up to date and presented whenever the inspection services ask, in practice the DDPP (departmental authority for the protection of populations).

Rescues without a shelter are also concerned: a rescue that places animals in foster homes keeps a register of the animals entrusted to them, available to the authorities.

The content of the registers is set by the order (arrêté) of 19 June 2025. It replaced the order of 3 April 2014, which many guides still cite.

What the entry and exit register must contain

For dogs, cats and ferrets, the register records entries, exits, births and deaths as they happen. Each event is entered within 72 hours at the latest.

• The animal: species, breed, sex, reproductive status if known, date of birth or age, identification number, distinguishing marks.
• The entry: its date and where the animal came from.
• The exit: its date, its reason, the identity and address of the recipient.
• The death: its date and its cause, if known.

Paper or computer?

On paper, the register has numbered pages and is kept with no blanks, crossings-out or overwriting; a correction is written separately, with its reason.

A computerised register is allowed if it offers the same guarantees for inspection. The order then requires you to create and save, at least every six months, an unalterable, numbered and dated version, and to be able to print a paper version at the request of the inspecting officers.

No official form is prescribed for these registers.

The sanitary and health monitoring register

The second register follows the animals’ health: general condition on entry and on exit, vaccinations, symptoms and treatments, surgery including neutering, isolation on health grounds, cause of death. The reports of the designated vet (vétérinaire sanitaire) are entered in it.

This vet visits the premises of a shelter or a pound at least twice a year; a single annual visit is possible for a rescue without a shelter.

How long must they be kept?

Each volume of the entry and exit register is kept, on the premises, for three years after the exit of the animals listed in it. The health monitoring register is kept for three years from its last entry.

Failing to keep either of the two registers, or being unable to present it, is punishable by a fourth-class fine (contravention de quatrième classe).

What changes in 2027 and in 2029

From 1 January 2029, for dogs, cats and ferrets, the entry and exit register will be the one made available by the national identification database, to be updated within 72 hours of each movement.

From 1 January 2027, certain health information, such as neutering and rabies vaccination, will also have to be sent to it.