If you would like to organise a fundraising dog walk, don’t be put off by the paperwork! You know what the French are like, bless them. I think I put the cat among the pigeons when I decided to organise my walk for the International Day of the Dog.
If we had just been people walking, or riding bikes, or horses, they had forms to cover that! It was also the fact that I didn’t know how many dogs would be present. But I sorted through the paperwork and the bureaucracy and then, relaxing afterwards with a welcome glass of wine, I realised that some of the demands made were actually quite sensible.
Plan the walk well in advance. You have to submit the necessary paperwork to the Prefecture and the Chief Veterinaire of the department AT LEAST ONE MONTH before the date of the event.
So this is what I did.
1. Decide where you would like to walk, then walk the route. Time it. About 5 km is comfortable for most people. Have a shorter loop if possible.
2. Start the walk in a village with a cafe or a boulangerie where people can have lunch, or buy food for lunch. (We warned the boulanger that there might be extra people looking to buy food). Suggest people bring a picnic if they prefer.
3. Visit the Mairie and explain what you would like to do. The form they need to get from the Prefecture is called ‘Declaration d’organisation d’une manifestation sportive non motorisee sur une voie ouverte a la circulation publique, sans classement final des participants’. 3 copies if possible, 1 for the Prefecture, one for the Chief Vet of the departement and a spare copy for you.
4. Complete the above form, it’s only a couple of pages long, not complicated, and send it to the Prefecture of your department, together with a copy of the route (we got our route from an official leaflet/book), and a copy of the entry form (in French) . They also require public liability cover, so I found it easiest to raise funds for an association and then get them to supply a copy of their public liability cover.
5. Ask a local vet if they will be on standby (at the end of their mobile telephone, not present in person) in case any dogs needs veterinary attention. Then send a letter to the Chief Veterinaire of your department, giving the date of the event, the object of the event, and the nominated vet. I also explained that it was simply a walk, with pet dogs, no dogs would be on sale, all dogs would be vaccinated etc, no Category 1 or 2 dogs would be allowed (aggressive dogs etc)
6. When you design your entry form, make sure you include a) name, address and telephone number of the person walking; b) the name and microchip/tatoo identification of the dog; c) ask walkers to bring the dog passport. (proof of rabies vaccination): d) a cut-off date for entries, a week before the event at least.
7. Let the vet on standby have a list of the names of the dogs and their walkers, before the event. The Chief Vet in my department (79) wanted the list with the local vet 7 days before, but we gave it to her a couple of days before and she was quite happy.
8. Mark the route if you feel it necessary.
9. Supply bags for collecting dog poo (especially at the car park).
10. We supplied rosettes to all dogs walking, and got a sponsor to cover the cost.
It might all look a lot to do, but it is actually quite straightforward, once you know the system.
The Prefecture advises the gendarmes, sapeur pompiers and any other relevant authorities, so you have no need to worry about that.
We didn’t see the vet, or anyone from the Mairie, or any gendarmes or sapeur pompiers. But quite a few people bought food from the boulangerie, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day.