They have in common that they have a coat, that they love croquettes and that they share the daily life of millions of French people. They are pets in the “household” category: cats, dogs and ferrets.
Their owners are required to have them tattooed and vaccinated, and spaying is also recommended. During the visit to the vet, an electronic chip the size of a grain of rice is injected under the animal’s skin (without pain). It has a unique identification number. A company called I-CAD manages this file, which shows France’s cats, dogs and ferrets under the delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The identification of the animals is still uneven. If 95% of dog owners have their pooches chipped, it is estimated that almost half of cats are not identified. This delay tends to be caught up, with an acceleration due to the combined effects of the excitement of the cat’s presence with the confinements and the fear of now risking a fine.
Also read: Tattooing or chipping your cat is now mandatory
Cities and landscapes
Per As of December 31, 2022, I-CAD had 17.5 million animals “considered alive” in its database. Dogs are the majority there, with exactly 9,796,774 individuals. This is 2 million more than cats, which are 7,766,026. But remember, this number is probably double in reality. Finally, the file shows 19,478 ferrets.
The number of animals and the distribution between cats and dogs varies according to the territory. Find out below how many animals have been identified in your department:
If all cat owners identified their pets, this card would probably be all blue. However, cats are already outnumbered in very specific areas: Paris and Île-de-France, the metropolises of Marseille and Lyon, five departments of Grand Est and Haute-Savoie.
In Alpes-Maritimes and Seine-et-Marne there is almost equality.
With 17.5 million companions for 65 million inhabitants on the French mainland, there are an average of 26 domestic animals per person. 100 inhabitants. This proportion varies considerably from region to region.
Several departments show a rate of around 40 animals per 100 people, with a peak of 47 for Creuse. Beyond are rural areas, often with a majority of dogs and a strong hunting tradition: Dordogne, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Nièvre, Yonne, Cher, Ariège, Indre…
On the other hand, there are only departments where cats are the majority. These are very urban areas where people live more often in apartments: Seine-Saint-Denis (10 animals per 100 inhabitants), Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Val-d’Oise, Rhone, Paris, Yvelines, Essonne…
Materialize the bond with your animal
From June 12 to 18, 2023, I-CAD is organizing National Dog and Cat Identification Week to raise awareness among future pet owners to comply with the legal obligation to have their animals identified.
Identification enables better monitoring of the animal, limits the risk of abandonment and is an important issue for its well-being. It also makes it easier to find if it gets lost or stolen.
As Dr. Pierre Buisson, president of I-CAD, points out, “Identification is the best way to materialize the special bond you have with your animal”.
