Your cat, dog or ferret has gone missing in France, and you know it is microchipped or tattooed. The first official step takes a few minutes: report the loss to the national I-CAD registry. The report tells professionals checking the record that you are looking for your pet. Current contact details help them reach you after reading its microchip or tattoo.
In short: the declaration is free and is made online from your owner account (the "espace détenteur") on i-cad.fr. You need the animal's identification number (chip or tattoo) and the password for that account. If you have neither to hand, the guide below explains how to unblock the situation. Then check your contact details, spread the word locally, and remember to report the animal's return.
Which step fits your situation?
Situation | What to do | Who to contact |
|---|---|---|
Identified pet, account access available | Report the loss and check your contact details. | I-CAD owner account |
Identification number missing | Check your pet’s documents, then ask your usual vet. | Your usual vet |
Forgotten password | Use account recovery; contact I-CAD if it fails. | I-CAD |
Pet still registered to a previous keeper | Send I-CAD your contact details and the identification number for a temporary contact record. | I-CAD |
Pet not identified | Start local searches and contact nearby services; an I-CAD loss report is not possible. | Vets, shelters, animal welfare groups, town hall and pound |
Pet home after being reported lost | Report the return and remove missing-pet notices. | I-CAD and the people you alerted |
1. Who this applies to, and why the declaration matters
I-CAD (Identification des Carnivores Domestiques) runs France's national registry of identified dogs, cats and ferrets. Its 2026 barometer, published on 21 May 2026 with 2025 data, counts 18.4 million identified animals alive on 31 December 2025, of which 90,081 were declared lost and 45,912 reported found during the year.
Those last two figures are not a recovery rate: they count reports made during a year rather than following each missing animal. A return reported in 2025 may concern an animal lost earlier.
In practice, when someone finds your animal and takes it to a vet, a shelter or the pound, the chip number is read and looked up in the registry. The lost flag helps the professional understand the situation. An identification record can still help locate the keeper without a prior loss report; outdated contact details make that contact harder. According to Service-Public.fr, the French government's information site, the loss declaration informs vets, shelters and animal welfare associations.
2. What you need to hand
The animal's identification number: fifteen digits for a microchip, a mix of letters and digits for a tattoo. It appears on the I-CAD identification card, in the animal's health record or EU pet passport, and sometimes on vet invoices.
Access to your owner account. Have your password and the email address or mobile number registered with I-CAD ready. If you have never activated the account, the official FAQ describes first-time access using email or SMS verification.
A recent photo and a precise description (coat, size, collar, distinguishing marks), useful for the notices that follow.
If any of these is missing, do not give up: section 4 covers each case.
3. Declaring the loss online, step by step
Go to I-CAD's official page "J'ai perdu mon animal" (I have lost my animal). It sets out the procedure and offers a video tutorial. The site is in French, with some pages available in English.
Log in to your owner account with the animal's identification number and your password. I-CAD is firm on this point: without the identification number, no search of the registry is possible.
Follow the on-screen instructions to record the loss. If you are asked for the date and place of disappearance, be as precise as you can: that is what helps professionals make the connection.
Before closing, check your contact details (section 5). This is usually when people discover the phone number on file is the one from three years ago.
The declaration is free. If you would rather speak to someone, I-CAD has an owner helpline open on weekdays. The number and opening hours are listed on the Service-Public.fr page and on I-CAD's website.
4. What blocks people, and how to get past it
I cannot find the identification number
Start with the animal's paperwork: I-CAD card, health record, passport, adoption contract, vet invoices. If nothing turns up, I-CAD's Questions-Réponses page says to contact your usual vet: the practice that identified or treated the animal keeps the number on file.
I have the number but not the password
Use the account recovery process on I-CAD's website. Its FAQ describes verification through the email address or mobile number registered on the account. If you cannot access either, it also provides an identity-document verification option. Send such documents only through I-CAD's official process. If you remain stuck, use the contact form, choosing the lost-animal subject, or call the owner helpline. Keep searching locally while access is being restored.
The animal is still registered to a previous owner
This is common after an adoption or a gift: the change of owner was never recorded. In that case you have no access to the owner account. I-CAD offers a temporary registration of your contact details, valid for two months: email Email protected — enable JavaScript with your full details and the identification number. You can then be called back if the animal is found, without waiting for the paperwork to be sorted out.
Once the animal is home, get the change of owner regularised. I-CAD states that the previous owner is responsible for it, and that the procedure is free and immediate online from their account. The full procedure is on the "Changement de détenteur" page.
5. Checking your contact details: the most expensive mistake
An animal remains identified even if the registered phone number is out of date, but its keeper may be harder to contact. Updates are made from the owner account and, according to I-CAD, take effect immediately. Check:
your main mobile number, and a second number if possible (partner, parent);
your email address, the one that will receive reset links;
your postal address, useful if the animal is found far from home.
While you are at it, check that the tag on the animal's collar, if it wears one, shows a number that still works. A readable tag sometimes skips the registry altogether: the neighbour just calls you.
6. Spreading the word locally: Filalapat and the neighbourhood
The I-CAD declaration informs professionals. It does not inform the people living around you, who are the most likely to cross paths with your animal.
For that, I-CAD runs Filalapat, a network of Facebook groups organised by French department, where you can post a free notice for a lost animal and browse notices of found animals. Join your department's group and post a notice with the photo, the place and the date.
Add the on-the-ground steps from our guides, depending on your situation: lost cat, what to do to find it or my dog ran away, what to do in the first 24 hours. You can also alert the people near the place your pet went missing with the Animou app: nearby users can receive a notification and share a sighting, depending on their presence and settings.
7. Reporting the animal's return
This final step closes the official loss report. Once the animal is home, go back to your owner account and report its return. I-CAD explains that this clarifies the situation and officially records that the animal is no longer lost.
It avoids leaving your pet flagged as missing after it is home. Let the people and organisations who helped you know too. Remember to take down your Filalapat and neighbourhood notices too.
8. What if the animal is not identified?
Without a registered microchip or tattoo, there is no I-CAD record on which to report the loss. Local searches are still essential. In that case Service-Public.fr advises contacting local vets, shelters and associations directly, and asking the town hall for the pound's contact details.
For a dog or cat taken into a pound, French law provides a clear holding period of eight working days, linked to admission. Contact the pound on day one, describe your animal and ask about reclaiming it. Do not wait for the deadline. An unclaimed animal's future is then handled through the pound procedure; finding it does not entitle someone to arrange an adoption themselves.
Once your pet is home, ask your vet to bring its identification up to date. Article L212-10 of the French Rural Code requires identification before transfer to a new keeper. Outside a transfer, it applies to dogs over four months, cats over seven months and ferrets over seven months born after 1 November 2021.
9. Where Animou fits in
Animou does not replace I-CAD or Filalapat, and does not claim to. The national registry is the official step that links the animal to your details; Filalapat spreads the notice across the department. Animou works on a different link in the chain: an alert for users near the place where the animal went missing, with a way to report a sighting. Available help depends on people active in the area. The three add up.
If you have found an animal rather than lost your own, the procedure runs the other way: have the chip read at a vet's and inform the town hall. Our guides found or stray cat and found or stray dog explain it.
Frequently asked questions
Does it cost anything to declare a lost pet to I-CAD?
No. The online declaration from the owner account is free, as are updating your details and reporting the return.
Can I declare the loss without the chip number?
Not directly: I-CAD states that the identification number is essential to find the animal's record. Ask your vet, who keeps it on file, then make the declaration.
What happens once the loss is declared?
The animal's record is flagged as lost. Any professional who scans the chip and checks the registry sees that it is being looked for and can contact you. The report adds information to the existing record; it does not start a search on the ground on your behalf.
Should I report the return if my pet comes back the next day?
If you declared it, yes, report the return too. If the animal came home before you had time to do anything, there is nothing to declare, but it is a good moment to check your details.
My pet went missing abroad, what should I do?
Declare the loss to I-CAD as usual, then contact the national registry of the country concerned. I-CAD also mentions Europetnet, a European platform that brings together several national identification registries.
Sources
I-CAD, "J'ai perdu mon animal : quelles sont les démarches à effectuer ?"
Service-Public.fr, losing a pet, page updated 13 February 2026
Service-Public.fr, online service for declaring a lost pet to I-CAD
French Rural Code (Code rural et de la pêche maritime), articles L211-24 to L211-26 and L212-10, as cited by Service-Public.fr
