The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Burial of pets: what does the law say?

2021-12-02T10:26:06.011Z


You recently lost your dog or cat and are wondering what to do with their remains. The burial of pets is regulated by law and follows fairly strict rules. Burial, cremation, rendering, administrative procedures: all ...


When your cat or dog dies, there are certain rules to follow when providing a funeral for your loyal pet.

To discover

  • Fence and neighborhood: what does the law say?

What is a pet?

The definition of

a companion animal

is given to us by article L214-6 of the Rural and Maritime Fisheries Code:

"We mean by pet any animal held or intended to be kept by man for his pleasure"

.

The pet can be a domestic, tame, or even wild animal.

The law strictly regulates the

loss of a pet

in articles L226-1 and following of the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code.

Read also Funeral services for our pets

Pet burial or cremation?

Burial or cremation, one or the other of the possibilities is open to you to organize the

funeral of your pet

.

The choice depends on your budget and your personal convictions.

But also of the law.

The burial of a pet

If you decide to bury your pet, you can bury it in a wildlife cemetery.

Animal funeral companies offer different services: digging the grave, grooming the body, putting in a coffin, funeral plaque, etc.

Good to know

 : you can obtain the list of approved cemeteries from your veterinarian.

There are about twenty of them in France.

Read also Pets: what changes the proposed law for the fight against animal abuse

Cremation of a pet

If you don't want to bury your beast, you can opt for cremation.

The cremation of a pet, otherwise called cremation, is managed by a specialized animal crematorium.

It can be, depending on what you want, individual or collective.

Note

 : if you want to collect your pet's ashes, you must choose individual cremation.

Collective incineration does not allow this.

At the end of the collective cremation, the ashes are placed in a dedicated and private burial site.

Read alsoCats, puppies, dolphins: time for the final vote on an emblematic text against abuse

What to do when a pet dies?

When your pet dies, you must quickly make a choice about the latter's funeral: cremation, burial or rendering.

Then, you must carry out declarative administrative formalities.

Here's the procedure to follow :

  • Notify your veterinarian, an animal funeral society, an animal crematorium or a rendering service, depending on the size of your animal.

    You must do it within 48 hours of death.

  • Declare the death on a file:

  • o If it is a cat, a dog or a ferret, you must declare the disappearance of your animal to

    the Domestic carnivore identification file

    (I-Cad), as soon as possible.

    This declaration can be made by email (contact@i-cad.fr), on the I-Cad website), by post (I-CAD,


    112-114 avenue Gabriel Péri, 94246 L'Haÿ-les -Roses Cedex), or

    via

    the Filalapat app.

    o If it is an animal belonging to a protected wild species, you must declare its death to the

    National File for the Identification of Animals of Protected Non-Domestic Species

    (I-Fap).

    o If it is a sheep or a goat, you must declare its death to your

    Departmental Establishment of Livestock

    (EDE).

    o If it is an equine, you must declare the death to the

    SIRE central file of the French Institute of Horse and Riding (Ifce)

    .

    If you do not wish to keep your pet's body at your home, you can take it to your veterinarian while awaiting cremation or burial.

    Good to know

     : if the situation is too painful, or simply by choice, you can ask your veterinarian to take care of the administrative procedures related to the funeral of your pet, at your expense.

    He is also the one who will temporarily keep the remains.

    Read alsoVeterinary clinics are regrouping more and more

    What are the legal rules for the burial of pets?

    If you decide to opt for the burial of your animal, a number of legal rules surround this choice.

    They depend on the size, but also on the deceased animal species.

    The burial of small deceased animals

    Legally, there is only one option to bury small pets (dog, cat or rabbit for example).

    This is a burial in an animal cemetery.

    The burial of deceased equines

    It is not possible to bury an equine.

    Your horse, pony or donkey must be cremated or given to a rendering service.

    The incineration of equines has been possible since 2009. The

    Horsia

    company

    is the only one offering this service in France.

    If you opt for cremation, you must sign a care and cremation agreement with a veterinarian.

    Once this document is signed, the crematorium will collect your animal's remains anywhere in France, and within 48 hours maximum.

    If you opt for rendering, you must quickly contact a specialized company.

    The rules and procedures for removing your pet vary from one rendering company to another.

    The latter takes care of the formalities of declaration of death to the SIRE central file.

    Good to know

     : rendering is a public service specializing in the collection of dead animals.

    It is responsible for the collection, storage, processing and disposal of animal corpses.

    The burial of large deceased animals

    It is not possible to bury or cremate a dead animal weighing more than 40 kilos (a goat or a sheep for example).

    Your only option is to hire a rendering service.

    This requirement appears in article L226-1 of the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code.

    You have

    48 hours maximum

    to alert a rendering service.

    The latter also has 48 hours to remove the animal remains, after your request.

    Read alsoThe origin of the domestication of the horse finally discovered

    What are the penalties for non-compliance with the rules for burial of animals?

    The law severely punishes non-application of legal rules surrounding the burial of pets.

    The sanctions appear in article L228-5 of the Rural and Maritime Fisheries Code.

    Throwing the remains of his animal into nature or any other place whatsoever is punished with a fine of € 3,750.

    Failure to notify the kidnapping person within 48 hours of the death at the latest is also punished with the same fine.

    How much does a pet funeral cost?

    No matter what funeral you choose for your pet, it will necessarily come at a cost to you.

    But the prices may vary depending on what you have chosen: burial, cremation or rendering.

    They can also vary from one company to another, and from one municipality to another.

    The rendering service is chargeable.

    It is at the discretion of the company and varies according to the type of equine and the location.

    You can count between 200 and 600 euros on average.

    There is also a charge for burial in an animal cemetery.

    Count between 1000 and 2000 euros on average, without the maintenance costs which vary from one cemetery to another.

    Regarding cremation, the prices for a pet, excluding equines, vary according to what you have chosen.

    Collective incineration

    generally costs between 50 and 160 euros.

    The price of an

    individual cremation

    varies depending on the size and weight of the animal.

    It takes on average between 70 and 270 euros, to which may be added the price of the urn.

    For equines, it takes between 800 and 2,000 euros depending on the type of equine and the choice of individual or collective incineration.

    To these costs, you must add the cost of repatriating the animal to the crematorium.

    Note

     : you must also add the price of your veterinarian, if he assists you in the funeral procedures or if he keeps the remains of your pet.

    Is it possible to bury my pet in my garden?

    The answer to this question is debated and is not clearly decided by law.

    If the Rural and Maritime Fisheries Code mentions the obligation to call on a rendering company when the animal weighs more than 40 kilos, nothing is mentioned for those weighing less than 40 kilos.

    And legal uncertainty was sown in 2016, when article L226-4 of the Rural and Fisheries Code was repealed.

    This provided that individuals could bury their small pets:

    "It is also possible to bury the corpses of pets and wild game by-products"

    .

    Article L226-4 has been replaced by Regulation (EC) n ° 1069/2009 of October 21, 2009 relating to the health rules applicable to animal by-products.

    It is specified in Articles 8 and 12 that animal remains must be cremated.

    Without further details.

    Ultimately, it appears that, from a legal point of view, burying your dog in your garden is no longer allowed, even if nothing explicitly forbids it.

    If you want to take advantage of this legal vagueness, know that it is the

    departmental health regulations

    that apply.

    There is one in each department.

    Generally, it is forbidden to bury animal corpses within 35 meters of homes, wells, springs, in source protection perimeters, collection and supply water supply works.

    It is also advisable to bury it more than a meter deep to prevent other animals from digging up the corpse.

    Good to know

     : Paris health regulations formally prohibit the burial of animal remains.

    Can you be buried with your pet?

    Even if you consider your pet to be an integral part of your family, you cannot ask to be buried with them.

    Article L2223-3 of the General Code of Territorial Collectivities indeed provides that

    “The burial in a cemetery of a municipality is due […] to deceased persons”

    .

    It is therefore forbidden to bury a pet in a family vault.

    Source: lefigaro

    All news articles on 2021-12-02

    You may like

    Trends 24h

    Latest

    © Communities 2019 - Privacy

    The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
    The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.