Banned dog breeds in France: the two categories

The search term says banned. French law says categorised, and the distinction decides what you have to do rather than whether you can come.

1re catégorie — chiens d'attaque: American Staffordshire terrier (commonly called pit bulls), Mastiff (commonly called boerbulls) and Tosa, where the dog is not entered in a recognised pedigree register.

2e catégorie — chiens de garde et de défense: American Staffordshire terrier, Rottweiler and Tosa that are registered, plus dogs resembling a Rottweiler.

The registration status is what moves a dog between the two, which surprises owners who assume the breed alone decides.

Source: Service-Public.fr — Avoir un chien de catégorie : quelles sont les règles ? (F1839), read 25 September 2026.

Holding a categorised dog is subject to a permis de détention issued by the mayor of your commune of residence. It is local, not national — so the office you deal with is the mairie, and it is one of the first things to sort after an address.

Alongside it: the dog must be identified by a vet via microchip on the national register (Icad), and a behavioural evaluation of the animal is required.

Certain people cannot hold one at all — minors and adults under guardianship among them.

Source: Service-Public.fr — Avoir un chien de catégorie : quelles sont les règles ? (F1839), read 25 September 2026.

This is where the page earns its place on an insurance site, and it is a legal requirement rather than a recommendation.

Assurance responsabilité civile obligatoire. You must hold civil liability cover for damage your dog could cause to third parties. Going without is an offence: the absence of insurance is punishable by a fine of up to €450.

Note what this is and is not. It is third-party liability for the dog — not veterinary cover, and nothing to do with your own health insurance. It is a separate product and a separate obligation, and it sits alongside the cover you arrange for yourself.

Source: Service-Public.fr — Avoir un chien de catégorie : quelles sont les règles ? (F1839), read 25 September 2026.

The dog's French paperwork runs in parallel with yours. Yours: the visa, the address, the health cover your route requires. The dog's: identification, behavioural evaluation, the mayor's permit and the liability policy.

Start the dog's file early. The permit depends on the evaluation and the insurance being in place, so it is a chain rather than a single form — and the chain begins after you have an address, which is itself downstream of the visa.

Plainly: the liability cover for the dog is not something we arrange. We are an insurance introducer for international health and life cover, and a French civil-liability policy for a categorised dog is a different product from a different market.

What we do is the human half — health cover that meets the rule your visa route sets, cited and dated on the France hub. Pre-existing conditions are excluded and cover is governed by the Regency Assurance policy wording.