Animal stock declaration and declaration obligation for specially protected species in domestic animal husbandry

Whoever keeps vertebrates of the specially protected species shall immediately after the beginning of the keeping notify the competent authority in writing of the stock of the animals and after the stock notification of the inflow and outflow as well as a marking of animals.

Vertebrates are living creatures that have a skeleton with a vertebral column.
Vertebrates include:

• Mammals
• Birds
• Reptiles
• Amphibians
• Fish

Conversely, vertebrates are not:

• Molluscs (e.g. mussels, snails)
• annelids (e.g. leeches)
• Cnidarians (e.g. jellyfish)
• Urtic animals (amoebae)
• Insects

The obligation to register concerns all non-commercial keepers of specially protected vertebrates and applies to both the releasing keeper (who deregisters the animal) and the receiving keeper (who registers the animal). Exceptions exist for certain species, which are listed under "Publications".

Requirements

Vertebrates of specially protected species may only be kept if they are not subject to a ban on possession and the keeper

• has the necessary reliability and sufficient knowledge about the keeping and care of the animals, and
• has the necessary facilities to ensure that the animals cannot escape and that the keeping complies with animal welfare regulations.

What documents do I need?

• completed application form