Hi, has anybody recently been to France with their dog, drive and ferry.

Can you tell me what the procedure is with the dog, how through are they when they check the passport and the animal?

We have a cross, passport, vaccination, microchip, the lot to considerable expense I should add!
He is a cross, mostly lab, but def some staffy in it (his face is thinner, but u can still tell!), now I find out only staffy pure breed can go to France and only with kennel papers!

Anybody can advise, I am so shocked I found out by accident and we are supposed to go in few weeks! Nobody ever mentioned especially the vet, always happy to take your money!

Please anybody, we are desperate! We cannot leave him behind we are going for 2 months.

Its not something i have heard of, i would be surprised if the vets knew. Your best bet is to phone Defra, they are most likely to know the ins and outs of it, 08703411710.

We took 3 dogs to belgium going via channel tunnel (folkestone to calais) and i don't think they checked the dogs at all going out, we literally drove on and drove off. We weren't even stopped at the other end. On the way back we had to book in at the pets control office, where they ask you to scan the dog with their scanner and show them the number and they check the passports. You then drive onto the tunnel and drive off again the other side without being stopped. I would always go tunnel again as you can stay with the dogs and its nice and cool whereas on the ferries they have to stay in the car below deck by themselves and it gets very hot down there. Take a fan if you do go by ferry, a pet shop will usually sell cage fans quite cheaply.

http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Importation-of-animals-into-France,2780.html

The above link has some information on it regarding breeds not allowed to be imported to France - it may be easiest to contact the French Embassy direct in order to clarify the position regarding your dog but it would appear that it probably wouldn't be allowed entry.

that's what I like to hear! I don't know what the issues are with a staffyx that apparently doesn't apply to a full breed. Checked the sites, even french embassy and it is definitely confirmed, staffyx not accepted!

I am hoping to find from people's recent experiences how much they actually enforce it. We cannot give him up now, but we had this planned since before we got him so we are determined to find a way around it..

They also say dogs should be on lead and muzzle in all public places, but then they don't enforce it really, how many muzzled dogs do you see in France?

I am hoping if we get the channeltunnel and him being black on a black blanket we might get away with it... am I kidding myself?

>If your dog belongs to a breed recognized as dangerous dog, you cannot import this kind of dog in France (cat. 1). These breeds are:

> -  any dog of the type known as the Staffordshire terrier without a pedigree.

Would your dog be described as a Staffordshire Terrier if it is an obvious cross with something else?  I know you said you can see it in his head but how much does he look like a Staffy all over?  I believe if you can get supporting evidence that he is not this type you'll need to take it with you.

I don't have any more information but I wonder if this exclusion applies to a dog being imported for full time residency.  Does it also apply to temporary visitor?  I understand that a dog or other animal is deemed to be a resident if you are in the country for 3 months.  If you are going for 2 months then it may be less of an issue.  I do hope so for your sake.

In the meantime what are your options for leaving him here, can you find a kennels with space for him?  I hope it works out for you

Edited to say: I've just seen your post about Staffy cross.  It doesn't look like the news you hoped for.  I probably wouldn't risk it in case we got stopped - my French wouldn't be up to explaining!!  Good luck :)

How much stfafy does he look like or can he get away wth being a lab X, you don't know what his father was story?

Do you know 100% his half staff or are you guessing?

Better news, or so I hope, obviously will have to check beforehand..

I know he is a staffyx because that was the only info the rescue home gave us, he was brought in with the mother which was a stffyx, or so she looked. Then around 5 months of age when we adopted him it was clearly growing into a labrador. Everybody sees the lab straight away because he is very lean and not as muscular as the staff.

Anyway, apparently the french site has an old version which has been rectified by ministry intervention to clarify that the staffordshire bull terrier is not considered amongst the dangerous dog list in france. On the french site the refer to the Staffordhire Terrier and American Staffordshire when they mean the pit bull. That is why they are ok with pedigree staffy 'cause they are certified not mixed with pitbull

this is the paper
http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:FcLGMcpdRlsJ:policemunicipale.free.fr/docssitepolice/docs%2520officiels%2520stafie.pdf+staffordshire+bull+terrier+loie&cd=1&hl=fr&ct=clnk&gl=fr

so there is hope, clearly if you have a staffyx which resembles an am pitbull u are in trouble, but if u can confirm that is solely staffyxlab u should be ok...

I feel hopeful..
little bugger sleeping sound on the sofa without a care in the world, if he only knew the heartache he is causing...

Hi I live in France and have travelled once from the UK with the dogs via the Tunnel and my parents have travelled several times from the UK to France with their dogs.  The dogs have only ever been checked on the return journey never on entry to France.  I can't honestly say you woudn't be checked but you are not importing the dog so I don't see a problem anyway.  Do you have Staffy X written on the pet passport, if so if could that be changed to read Lab X or just Crossbreed then you wouldn't have a problem.  The French do use muzzels in public places on the dogs classed as dangerous and they are getting quite strict on dogs always being on a lead, but as long as your dog is well behaved and doesn't upset anyone you should be fine.  Where abouts are you going - you may find different laws in different departments.

Best wishes
Jan

thank you janW, ray's passport only say cross which is good. I intend to bring the adoption papers from the rescue place with and, if they are willing to do it, a paper from the vet to certify he has no pitbull in him. That's why they don't want staffyx in the first place as they have similarity in the features. If the passport says only cross then he might get inspected to check his features... unless he is panting to reveal a full staffy smile (lol), his nozzle is quite long and he look quite labish... if we produce some food then he gets his lab coat on immediatly with the big eyes!!! He was dropped in the rescue center with his mum and siblings as a puppy. We got him off them when he was 5 months old, by then he would have shown any signs of pitbull if he had it in his genes and the rescue homes are very strick on the matter and would have put him down. Same goes for his mum. I hope that would be enough to prove that he was checked for pitbull parentage already.

We only intend to drive thru France and get to Italy, if needed we will muzzle.

Please can you also tell me what are the regulation in France for transporting dogs in the car?
Ray is well used to car journey and lays down quietly in the back seats, mostly dozing off. We have never caged him and don;t need a divider between the back seats and the front... if he needs a wee he just looks at us and whistle. Never once jumped on the front seats and we intend to stop every 3 hours max to let him out.
I know in Italy the rules are that you need something to dived the area where the dog is to avoid him jumping at the front, but nobody bother... If france is the same I might prefer to comply to draw less attention...