Real Life — A problem with your dog?
A very useful contact: the SPA

For 150 years, the SPA or Société Protectrice des Animaux (the French equivalent of RSPCA, or SPCA), constantly strives to assure the protection and the defence of animals in France. You may need them for the following reasons:

- If you've lost your pet.
- If you have found a stray pet.
- If you want to adopt a dog or a cat.
- To report any animal abuse.

You have lost your animal, what should you do?
If your animal is tattooed, you will have a greater chance of finding it again. As soon as you are aware of his/her disappearance, you should immediately :

- inform the animal shelter in your municipality as well as the closest SPA. Sometimes the animal shelter and the SPA are in the same place.

- inform also the police (commissariat or gendarmerie), as well as the veterinarians in the neighbourhood.
- inform the “ Société centrale canine ” if you have lost a tattooed dog: 01 49 37 54 54, or the “ Fichier national félin ” if you have lost a tattooed cat: 01 . 55 . 01 . 08 . 08.

- Put up flers in local shops, in mailboxes, and offer a reward .

To find the closest SPA from your home, click here.

You have found an animal, what should you do?
If the animal is tattooed, note precisely the tattoo number, situated most of the time inside an ear, sometimes inside a thigh for dogs. If the tattoo is difficult to read, you can clean the ear with some alcohol, then place a bright light behind the ear, which should help you to read the tattoo. Then get in touch with one of the several organizations that keep national data bases of such tattoos:
- for dogs: the Société centrale canine : 01.49.37.54.54.
- for cats: the Fichier national félin : 01.55.01.08.08.

Theses organisations will identify the owner of the animal. If the animal is not tattooed, and if he/she does not have a collar or a metal tag with the owner's address, you have two solutions:

1 - Take the animal to the local animal shelter.
2 – Keep the animal with you in your home (if you prefer to keep your protégé away from the cages of the animal shelter ) and begin to do some research on your own. Nevertheless, make sure to call the SPA and give them a complete description of the animal you have found. Also warn the police (commissariat or gendarmerie), as well as the veterinarians in the neighbourhood. And again, don't hesitate to put up posters in the stores in the neighbourhood, and fliers in mailboxes...

If you want to adopt a pet
You should contact the nearest SPA. A brief investigation by the adoption agency will be made by the voluntary investigators of the SPA. You will need to show an ID card, a document certifying your residency (i.e. an electric or telephone bill), a document certifying your income.
You will also be asked for a financial contribution: about 80 to 100 € for a cat and 125 to 145 € for a dog.

Vincent Anthonioz

To report any animal abuse, call the nearest SPA:
SPA website (in French) : www.spa.asso.fr

The SPA has been working already
for 150 years to protect
and assist animals.

French Accent Magazine - December 06