Document type: answer to question 10049 published in the Journal officiel de la République française
Authors: question: Nicolas Forissier (Les Républicains - Indre). Answer: French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty
Question: Mr. Nicolas Forissier draws the attention of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty to the incompleteness of the application of Law no. 2021-1539 of November 30, 2021 aimed at combating animal abuse and strengthening the bond between animals and humans. Containing a number of measures to combat the abuse of domestic and captive wild animals and improve the conditions under which they are kept, the implementation of this law has recently been the subject of a report commissioned by the Senate's Committee on Economic Affairs. In her conclusions, published on June 7, 2023, the committee's rapporteur laments the fact that 14 regulatory texts have yet to be produced for the law to be fully applied. More specifically, the lack of a study assessing the economic impacts and abandonment figures for dogs and cats following the law's ban on the sale of dogs and cats in pet shops - was also reported to be of concern, particularly given the general shift towards online pet sales and the associated risk of fraud. The MP would therefore like to know how soon the government intends to carry out a study assessing the economic impacts and the abandonment figures resulting from the ban on the sale of dogs and cats in pet shops. More generally, he would also like to know whether the 14 missing regulatory texts to ensure the full effectiveness of this law will be published by the end of Summer 2023.
Answer: The Ministry of Agriculture has published all regulatory texts called for by Law no. 2021-1539 dated November 30, 2021 to combat animal abuse and strengthen the bond between animals and humans, namely: - Decree no. 2022-1012 dated July 18, 2022 on the protection of companion animals and equidae against animal abuse, which specifies the certification procedures applicable to keepers of equidae as part of their professional activities, the content and procedures for issuing certificates of commitment and knowledge for any person keeping equidae for non-professional activities on the one hand and, on the other, for any natural person who acquires a companion animal whether by purchase or free of charge. It also specifies the essential information to be included in the contract that must be signed between foster families and all animal rescue organisations, with and without their own shelters. It also specifies the terms and conditions concerning the inclusion of awareness-raising materials and pet advertisements relating to the sale of pets; - Decree no. 2022-1179 dated August 24, 2022 on the training of pound managers concerning the welfare of dogs and cats; - Decree no. 2022-1354 dated October 24, 2022 on the protection of companion animals which, in particular, sets out the procedures for reporting on and establishing compliance with health regulations for associations without shelters, and creates fines for non-compliance with the new provisions on the protection of companion animals and equidae; - Decree no. 2023-628 dated July 18, 2023 on the traceability and statistical and administrative monitoring of animals for which identification is compulsory. Following the issuing of Decree no. 2022-1012 on July 18, 2022, several orders and two technical instructions were also published to provide guidance: - the Order of December 29, 2022, which lists the diplomas, titles and certificates enabling professional keepers of equine to confirm their knowledge of the needs of the species; - the Order of December 29, 2022, which lists the professional bodies in the equine sector authorized to issue the certificate of commitment and knowledge for the keeping of an equine ; - the Order of June 28, 2023 relating to the awareness-raising and informative materials to be included in the dedicated sections of online sites offering pets for sale: - Technical Instruction DGAL/SDSBEA/2022-835 dated 14 November 2022 concerning the certificate of commitment and knowledge to be obtained prior to the acquisition of a pet animal; - and Technical Instruction DGAL/SDSBEA/2023-284 dated 26 April 2023 relating to the certificate of commitment and knowledge issued for the keeping of an equine animal. With regard to the fight against pet abandonment, in 2021 the Ministry of Agriculture set up the first observatory for the protection of domestic carnivores (OCAD), whose steering committee brings together all those involved in the pet sector, including associations, professionals, scientists and representatives from national and local authorities. OCAD's mission is to issue recommendations on public policy, and it has identified the fight against abandonment as a priority area for action. The initial work consists of assessing the numbers of abandonments and the different forms these take, to provide a basis for future actions.
