Adopt a pet

You live in Luxembourg and want to adopt a dog or a cat? You will soon be moving to Luxembourg and would like to take your favorite pet with you? Owning a pet in Luxembourg is not as easy as it seems.
You must complete certain administrative formalities if you adopt a pet or simply because you own it.

What do you need to know about owning a pet?

Renting an accommodation and pet

In Luxembourg, the owners of an apartment or a house have the right to forbid the housing of an animal, dog or cat! This is usually specified in the lease contract. Even if this can eventually be negotiated with the owner, remember to ask before hand if you have a pet!

Electronic chip and mandatory vaccines for dogs and cats

When you own a dog or a cat in Luxembourg, you are obliged to have it chipped by an approved veterinarian. Why? In case of loss or damage caused by the animal, this will allow the direct identification of its owner. The electronic identification of your pet must be done during the first 4 months after its birth or during the first month of its adoption.

Pets must also be vaccinated. Dogs, cats and ferrets must be vaccinated against rabies. Once these vaccinations are up to date, the animal can receive a European passport and can travel within Europe.

Questions to ask yourself before adopting an animal

Adopting an animal is not to be taken lightly in Luxembourg. A law on animal protection was actually drafted in 2018, considering animals no longer as objects but as living beings. Their protection is therefore regulated and abandonment or mistreatment is severely punished. At the time of adoption, the future dignity and respect of the animal will be verified, as well as its safety and well-being.

Before welcoming an animal, it is important to ask yourself the right questions.

• What is your lifestyle? Is it compatible with the presence of a pet in your home?
• Are you often absent? Do you travel regularly (trips, business trips…)?
• Who will look after your pet when you go on vacation?
• What kind of living space can you offer him? Will it have enough room? Will he be able to let off steam?
• If necessary, who will train and educate your pet?
• Who will feed it, wash it? Who will wash his jar, his litter box, his cage? Who will take him for a walk to let off steam?
• How old is the animal? What is its average life span?
• Have you thought about the costs involved (food, veterinary care, accessories…)?

Specific formalities for dogs in Luxembourg

Declare your dog to your municipality of residence

As soon as you become the owner or repatriate a dog to Luxembourg, you must declare it to your local administration with a veterinary certificate within one month of the acquisition or importation. Dangerous dogs will require additional steps to be taken.

Mandatory insurance for dogs

You are also required to take out insurance with a company approved in the Grand Duchy to guarantee your civil liability as the owner of the dog, in case of damage or accident caused by your favorite animal.
In addition, an additional mention must be made when declaring the adoption of a dog considered likely to be dangerous.

For more information about pet insurance:

• For a dog: see the article on dog insurance from our partner AXA
• For a cat: see the article on cat insurance from our partner AXA

Annual tax on dogs

An annual fee of at least 10 euros must be paid to your municipality. The amount depends on where you live. Guide dogs, dogs for the disabled and military and customs dogs are not affected by this tax.

Obligation to keep your dog on a leash in built-up areas

All dogs, regardless of size, must be kept on a leash in built-up areas, unless freedom zones are established through an exemption. This obligation also applies to parking lots and public transportation.

Outside of built-up areas, there is no obligation to keep your dog on a leash, except for dangerous dogs. However, there is an obligation to be able to control your pet or to keep it on a leash in case of a problem.

Dangerous dogs

Special provisions are to be made for owners of a dog considered likely to be dangerous, namely the Staffordshire bull terrier, the Mastiff, the American Staffordshire terrier, the Tosa, the pit bulls and boerbulls.

These dogs will have to be the object of a prior authorization of detention or importation by the Ministry of Agriculture, delivered on presentation of a certificate of follow-up to specific training courses delivered by an approved organization.

Dogs considered potentially dangerous must be kept on a leash at all times.

Regulatory specificities for cats

Just like dogs, cats must be chipped.

The regulation also specifies that in the case of cats other than farm cats, they must also be spayed or neutered. This operation takes place no earlier than 6 months after the birth of the animal.
If you plan to leave your pet in a facility during your vacation, you will be asked for his health record and proof of these operations.

Where to adopt a pet?

You live in Luxembourg and wish to adopt a pet? You would like to do a good deed by adopting a dog or a cat in a Luxembourg shelter?
Just Arrived has some great places to adopt a 4-legged friend for your kids or yourself!

The Asylum for animals of Dudelange

Located in the Parc Le’h in Dudelange and open from Monday to Saturday from 5.30 pm to 7 pm, this animal shelter is run exclusively on a voluntary basis and financed almost entirely by private donations. Motivated, the team of volunteer caretakers does everything possible to take care of the animals it has been hosting since 1989.

There, we find mainly dogs and cats, of all ages and breeds, available for immediate adoption. All dogs, male and female, are chipped, neutered and vaccinated. The cats are also neutered, tattooed and vaccinated and tested negative for feline leukemia and feline AIDS. The adoption of a dog costs 250 euros, that of a cat 80 euros. Many animals are waiting to be adopted!

SEPA (Société Eschoise Protectrice des Animaux)

Located at 121 rue Bourgrund, in Esch-sur-Alzette, this association exists since 1992 and does everything possible to protect animals from abuse and bad living conditions. The team is composed of one worker, two administrative secretaries as well as 7 collaborators and several volunteers. The S.E.P.A. offers an extremely well equipped shelter for abandoned cats and dogs and at the same time provides all the necessary care until a new owner arrives. It is open every day from 2 to 5 pm, including weekends and holidays. SEPA offers adoption of its animals, as well as the possibility of taking them for a walk under reservation.

SOS abandoned animals

Created in 1983, the Association S.O.S. Animaux a.s.b.l. welcomes since 2005 abandoned cats at the Refuge Lexy Nilles, 58, rue de l’Avenir, in Luxembourg-Limpertsberg.

Exclusively dedicated to the feline cause, the volunteers who work there do everything possible to improve the quality of life of the animals taken in, and to offer them a better home. With several successful adoptions to their credit, the members of the association frequently update the list of cats available for adoption in their shelter. A visit of the refuge is also possible by appointment.