Comments on: Staffie to France? Non!

By: Anyone taken a Staffie to France yet? - MotorhomeFun

Anyone taken a Staffie to France yet? - MotorhomeFun — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:08:31 +0000

[...] be worth following the link below from a staff owner. http://gowen.org/staffie-to-france-non/ __________________ 'It's not about the destination, it's about the journey' _______________ [...]

By: Lesley

Lesley — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:34:53 +0000

It is my understanding that a pure bred staffie, WITH PAPERS is ok to go to/through France, on a lead, and possibly muzzled too, but a staffie cross is unacceptable. I simply would not risk trying to take our staffie x as she is part of the family and I would not trust the policce to understand that. I could not risk losing her.

By: Buster

Buster — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:48:34 +0000

Just read your comments about taking a staffy through france, we want to do the same but it looks like we won’t be able to do so.
Can you please clarify the last paragraph: -
I am really sorry for the bad news, but I would like you to have an
exact view of the situation. Should you wish your companion to be with
you during the holidays, remember that 1st category dogs are usually
kept on a lead and muzzled in public places, and on public transport.
If he’s saying you can go but he must have a muzzle??????

By: Jade Makina

Jade Makina — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:26:23 +0000

Hi, my puppy is a Dogue de Bordeaux cross staff, but she looks a lot like a red nosed pitbull. Yep not even a staff cross. Do you think that if the vet put DDB cross and I could show this to any authorities she would be allowed in France?

I mean it is their own breed of dog, but then without official papers I suppose she could be considered a dangerous dog.

What if she were muzzled and on a leash??

By: Steve Cook

Steve Cook — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 09:10:44 +0000

why not email the French Embassy..? I think you’d be okay though as the pedigree on our dog couldn’t be established and therefore his true breed not ascertained.

By: Lesley

Lesley — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:05:33 +0000

But does this this cover Staffi crosses?… Ours, being half Lab, is a bit too tall for their liking, so I would still be afraid of meeting an over officious policeman, despite my having very good french to argue the case…

By: Steve Cook

Steve Cook — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 08:50:35 +0000

I have had the same issues as we are looking to move to France to settle and take our pet SBT that was rescued with us. He has no pedigree, as a rescue and consequently this has caused us a lot of stress…until now!!

I received this email after much correspondence with the French Embassy and this now clarifies the position of taking a Stafford Bull Terrier to France.

Enjoy…

—–Original Message—–
From: [REMOVED]
Sent: 07 April 2010 17:29
To: Cook, Steve
Subject: RE: Stafford Bull Terriers

I received confirmation a few minutes ago that the Staffordshire bull terrier is not classified as a dangerous animal and therefore is not subject to declaration or licence, whether the animal is pedigreed or not.
It was given to me by :

Bureau de l’Identification et du contrôle des mouvements des animaux (BICMA),

Sous-direction de la santé et de la production animales (SDSPA)

Direction Générale de l’Alimentation (DGAL)

of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries in Paris.

Best regards.

[REMOVED]

By: morad

morad — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:18:00 +0000

@Debbie

The law here might make it difficult for you to travel with your dog.
The law states that if the dog has no pedigree, and corresponds in looks & size to a categorized dog, then it’s automatically assimilated to category 1 (“attack dogs”)

By: Debbie

Debbie — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:33:11 +0000

I have a black and white English bull terrier x border collie. He looks like the EBT of old i.e. 100yrs ago. His passport says bull terrier (English). Does anyone think I will have problems getting him into France?

By: morad

morad — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:17:18 +0000

I would like to correct Paul Jay’s incorrect statement by saying no, staffies are NOT category 2, and certainly not 1 here in France.

They WERE considered category 2 when the first law passed in 1999 but this was corrected not long after.
On the other hand, staffie cross, and staffies with no pedigree papers ARE category 1 dogs.

there is confusion as staffies are not a well known breed here ; and you might have to show your dog’s papers to the police every now and then.
they’re obviously not aware of the subtilities between breeds and easily associate staffies with american staffs or pit bulls.
But they would have no right to trouble you past that point.
The law is clear and clearly mentions staffies as NOT cat 1 or 2.

The first draft of the law back in ’99 did include staffies w/ pedigree in the 2nd category, but i insist, it has been CORRECTED.

People might bother you though, especially in big cities like Paris, where people still mistake them for amstaffs (god knows bad owners have given the poor fellers a bad rep), and you’ll just have to either ignore or correct them (the first option would be the one i’d choose).

on that note, have a nice day everyone.