Transiting France to West Africa

[mamamax]

Hello, We will be moving to West Africa with our English Springer Spaniel. He will fly as excess baggage. We will depart the US and transit through Paris (CDG). We do not plan on leaving the airport. While I know the import requirements of our final destination, I cannot tell if I need anything extra paperwork just to transit through France. Any ideas? Great site by the way. Thanks!

[Jerry]

It depends on the definition of transit. If the pet remains on the same airline and is just moved from one plane to another then there are no requirements. If you are changing airlines or plan to take possession of the pet in France then you must follow the rules for France which include having your pet micro chipped with the ISO 15 digit microchip, then vaccinated for rabies and finally having the new Annex II veterinary certificate. The complete rules and forms for taking pets into France are available here:
http://pettravelstore.com/products/Pet-Passport-France.html
Jerry