What to do when your pet is dead?
Verified 14 November 2023 - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister)
Your pet just died and you wonder what to do with his body. Small animals (cats, dogs, etc.) must be incinerated. There are also a few animal cemeteries. Equidae may be incinerated or, like other animals, sent to a rendering company. We're giving you the regulations.
Throwing an animal's body in a garbage can, sewer or other place is prohibited and may be punished with a fine of €3,750. It is also forbidden to bury an animal yourself, especially in its garden.
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Small animal (cat, dog, rabbit...)
Cat, dog, ferret
You can entrust the skinny from your pet to a veterinarian so that he can have it cremated by an animal crematorium.
You need to do this as soon as possible and no later than 48 hours after death.
Who shall I contact
You can also contact directly one animal crematorium.
To find the contact details of an animal crematorium, you can contact your departmental directorate of population protection (DDPP).
Who shall I contact
Cremation is a service paying.
Crematoriums generally offer the following services:
- Let's say one collective incineration : your pet is incinerated simultaneously with other pets in the same cremation cell. You can't, in this case, recover the ash. These are scattered in a private place, usually a souvenir garden owned by the animal crematorium
- Let's say one individual incineration : your animal is cremated alone. In this case, you can recover all the ashes. Some crematoriums may also offer to attend the cremation. You can keep the ashes at home, or scatter them, in a private place belonging to you (for example, your garden), an animal cemetery, a garden of memories owned by the crematorium or in the middle of nature (avoiding roads, public parks and fields of culture). You can't have the ballot box placed in a family vault in a cemetery for human burial
Please note
There are also a few animal cemeteries where you can have your pet buried. This service is usually paying.
In addition, you must to declare his death to national domestic carnivore identification database (I-cad) from the I-Cad website, in your space Holder.
I-Cad - Access to the holder space
If you downloaded the app Filalapat on your mobile phone, you can also report the death of your pet from this app, in the space dedicated to your animals.
To log in to the I-Cad website or register your pet on the app Filalapat, the animal identification number and password must be provided.
The animal's identification number and password are shown on the upper left, on the animal's identification card issued by the I-cad.
Please note
It is possible without special formalities to naturalize (stuffing) your pet. You need to contact a taxidermist.
Animal belonging to a protected wild species
You can entrust the skinny from your pet to a veterinarian so that he can have it cremated by an animal crematorium.
You must do this as soon as possible and no later than 48 hours after death.
Who shall I contact
You can also contact directly one animal crematorium.
To find the contact details of an animal crematorium, you can contact your departmental directorate of population protection (DDPP).
Who shall I contact
Cremation is a service paying.
Crematoriums generally offer the following services:
- Let's say one collective incineration : your pet is incinerated simultaneously with other pets in the same cremation cell. You can't, in this case, recover the ash. These are scattered in a private place, usually a souvenir garden owned by the animal crematorium
- Let's say one individual incineration : your animal is cremated alone. In this case, you can recover all the ashes. Some crematoriums may also offer to attend the cremation. You can keep the ashes at home, or scatter them, in a private place belonging to you (for example, your garden), an animal cemetery, a garden of memories owned by the crematorium or in the middle of nature (avoiding roads, public parks and fields of culture). You can't have the ballot box placed in a family vault in a cemetery for human burial
Please note
There are also a few animal cemeteries where you can have your pet buried. This service is usually paying.
In addition, if your pet was identified at national animal identification register for protected non-domestic species (I-fap), you must to declare his death to I-fap.
Other case
You can entrust the skinny from your pet to a veterinarian so that he can have it cremated by an animal crematorium.
You must do this as soon as possible and no later than 48 hours after death.
Who shall I contact
You can also contact directly one animal crematorium.
To find the contact details of an animal crematorium, you can contact your departmental directorate of population protection (DDPP).
Who shall I contact
Cremation is a service paying.
Crematoriums generally offer the following services:
- Let's say one collective incineration : your pet is incinerated simultaneously with other pets in the same cremation cell. You can't, in this case, recover the ash. These are scattered in a private place, usually a souvenir garden owned by the animal crematorium
- Let's say one individual incineration : your animal is cremated alone. In this case, you can recover all the ashes. Some crematoriums may also offer to attend the cremation. You can keep the ashes at home, or scatter them, in a private place belonging to you (for example, your garden), an animal cemetery, a garden of memories owned by the crematorium or in the middle of nature (avoiding roads, public parks and fields of culture). You can't have the ballot box placed in a family vault in a cemetery for human burial
Please note
There are also a few animal cemeteries where you can have your pet buried. This service is usually paying.
Horse, pony, donkey
You can choose to cause to be incinerated your horse, pony or donkey or to use a rendering service.
Incineration
To have your pet cremated, you must sign with a veterinarian one take-over and cremation agreement.
Cremation is a paying service.
To date, only one company offers this service in France.
Once the agreement with the veterinarian has been signed, the crematorium comes to remove the remains everywhere in France within 48 hours maximum.
Incineration may be common to several animals or individual.
When it is common to several animals, it is possible to recover a symbolic part of the ashes.
When it is individual, you can ask to recover the ashes of your pet.
You can store the ash at home, or scatter it, in a private place you own (for example, your garden), an animal cemetery, or in the middle of nature (avoiding roads, public parks and fields).
You can't have the ballot box placed in a family vault in a cemetery for human burial
The company of cremation is responsible for reporting the death of the animal to the Institut français du Cheval et de l'Equestrium (IFCE).
Who shall I contact
Rendering
When your equine animal dies, you can choose a rendering service through the association ATM: titleContent Equidés-Angee or another rendering service of your choice.
You choose a rendering service through the association ATM: titleContent Equidae-Angela
If you choose a rendering service through the association ATM: titleContent Equidés-Angee, the rendering request is made from your personal space on the IFCE website.
You must complete the process as soon as possible and at the latest within 48 hours after death.
From your personalized space on the IFCE website, click My SIRE procedures then in the topic Rendering, on Pay for rendering costs.
Equine information system (Sire)
You can pay online for rendering costs.
You must print the certificate of payment to be delivered to the renderer on the day of collection.
Once the payment has been made, you must call the rendering service yourself to set the appointment.
The rendering service is responsible for the declaration of the animal’s death to the IFCE.
You choose another rendering service
You can contact the company of your choice.
You must contact her as soon as possible and no later than 48 hours after the death.
The conditions for collection and payment depend on the chosen company.
If you choose
Equine information system (Sire)
Reminder
Rendering is the collection, cutting and removal of skin, bones, fats and other slaughter material. These various by-products are subsequently processed and recovered, in particular on the markets for lipochemistry and cosmetics, feed for production animals and domestic animals.
Other large animal
If your pet was a large animal other than a horse, pony or donkey (sheep, goat, etc.), you should warn, within 48 hours, one rendering service.
This service is responsible for removing animal bodies within 2 days free days upon receipt of your return.
In case of non-compliance with this deadline, you can inform the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations (DDPP).
The rendering service is paying.
Prices vary depending on the weight of the animal and the number of kilometers traveled to transport it.
The rendering service contact information is available at the RPD.
If your animal was a sheep or goat, you must report its death to your departmental breeding establishment (EDE) at the latest when the corpse is removed.
To find out the contact details of your EDE, contact your regional chamber of agriculture.
Who shall I contact
If your pet belonged to a protected wild species, you must report his death to the national register of protected non-domestic species (I-fap).
FAQ
French Institute of Horse and Horseback Riding (IFCE)
French Office for Biodiversity (OFB)