Originally Posted by pickle04

Hi, I have an English Bull Terrier who I travelled to Spain with for an holiday. As we were driving through France I checked out the law for this breed travelling through France too. I contacted the French embassy in France who were so helpful. They passed us on to the head of Agriculture with our queries who advised us that EBT are allowed in France and sent us paper work to confirm this in case we were stopped.

I also contacted the Spanish authorities who were not very helpful but in the end I did manage to get the info I needed to ensure that my dog was safe and allowed in Spain. Although she was not on the list of dangerous breeds,as a dogs measurements are also used as a guide she did fit into this category. Even breeds such as Labradors would fit this category too. Although very doubtful that a person with this breed would be stopped.

In Catalonia our dog is allowed although you did have to have a muzzle handy and if asked to put it on the dog you must oblige. Whilst we were out we bumped into two police men who stopped us with our dog. We showed them papers which identified the breed ,which we carried with us every time we went out. They asked us if she was gentle which she is, they then started to move their hands in front of her and jump about LOL to see if she would react, she didn't just looked at them gone out. She was then given a great big fuss off both of them and she gave out lots of kisses in return. We showed them the muzzle but they told us she was okay and no need for it. Every time we saw them after that, while we were there they made a bee line for her, much to her delight.

However Spain and its laws as many of you know, vary from place to place and in Valencia she is not allowed at all! I suppose with the dog in question being a Staffy you do know where you stand with the law.

If you are travelling through France with your dog Staffies are allowed but you have to have the pedigree papers. You have to prove that they are a pedigree other wise they can be classed as a mixed with other breeds eg, Pitbull which is banded and taken off you. I must say this information was correct on me travelling in 2014 not sure if things have changed up to date!

One thing I will comment on, in both France and Spain no one batted an eye lid at our dog and the fact that she was an EBT, we never encounted parents dragging children out of her way as we do here in the UK. In fact most of the time people would come over to her and fuss her and asked us to bring her into some of the shops we went in.

Originally Posted by pickle04

I am not sure if you need pedigree papers for staffies in Spain as they are classed as dangerous so it is just the licencing you need as you already know. In France the law is different and I just wanted you to be aware if you are travelling through France with your dog.

In France staffies do not need a licence but you are required to be able to prove with pedigree papers that they are a pure breed. It does not matter what the passport states by law you need to prove that they have no cross breeding in them with any breed that may be banded. This was the case in 2014 I was provided all this information by the French government. I only wanted you to be aware of this if travelling through France. If you are you may not even be noticed but you never know!

When we were on our way back home in France we met a couple who had adopted a staffy from Battersea dogs home. They had been stopped with their dog in France where they were holidaying, they had no papers to prove the dog was a pure breed. It was only because they could prove that they were returning to the UK the next day that no action was taken a great relief to the owners.

My daughter wrote an article for a dogs magazine, regarding taking dogs abroad and travelling through different European countries. That it is essential to be be aware of the different laws that each each country has regarding certain breeds. So many people were not aware of the laws. I myself wasn't, until I found out that different regions in Spain had different laws for EBT. That is what made me get in touch with the French government to find out what laws, if any they had with EBT breed due to us travelling through.