Bringing or getting a dog in Vaud: microchip, AMICUS, commune and dog tax

Last checked: 9 October 2026. Unofficial student guide, not EPFL or government advice: confirm on the linked official pages before you act. Unfamiliar abbreviation? See the Glossary.

What to do when you move to Vaud with a dog, or adopt or buy one here: the microchip, the national AMICUS database, announcing the dog to your commune, the yearly dog tax, and the extra Vaud rules for some breeds. Orientation only. Your commune's invoice and instructions are what count.

Key facts

• Announce the dog to your commune within 15 days of getting it, or of arriving with it. Ecublens applies this to dogs acquired or received during the year and to dogs staying more than three months in the commune; Lausanne covers the same dogs; Renens counts the 15 days from acquisition.
• Microchip: every dog must carry an electronic chip, set by a vet. AMICUS states that puppies must be chipped in their first three months, and in any case before they go to a new owner.
• Dog brought from abroad: AMICUS states that you must have a vet check its identification within ten days of import (not needed for dogs brought in only for a holiday or a short stay).
• AMICUS and the commune are two separate registrations. The commune gives new owners a personal AMICUS ID. AMICUS does not tell the commune about changes, so you announce every arrival, transfer or death to both.
• Dog tax: a cantonal tax of CHF 100 per dog and per year (inscription included), plus a commune tax. Lausanne: CHF 190 in total. Renens and Ecublens: CHF 200 in total.

Step by step

1. Register with your commune as a dog owner

Do this first, before or right after you get the dog. Your commune's population office (contrôle des habitants) or, in Lausanne, the tax office (Bureau des impôts) records the dog and gives you a personal AMICUS ID. Renens says new owners should get this ID before going to the vet.

• You register the dog in your main place of residence. Lausanne states that each time you change commune you register the dog again and deregister it in the old one.
• A move within Lausanne needs no separate dog notice once the population office knows your new address. For moves between Vaud communes, see Moving within Vaud; arrival in a commune, see Permit and commune registration.
• The dog must wear a collar or tag with the owner's name and address (Lausanne, Ecublens).
• In Lausanne, a dog must be in the name of an adult.

2. Microchip and AMICUS

• The vet sets the chip and records the dog in AMICUS under your AMICUS ID.
• You receive login data by post or e-mail and can then log in to AMICUS yourself.
• Change of owner: both the former owner ("give") and the new owner ("take over") confirm the transfer in their AMICUS accounts, and you also tell the commune.
• AMICUS helpdesk: 0848 777 100.

3. Pay the dog tax

How the tax works (vd.ch, Lausanne FAQ):

• It is owed by whoever owns the dog on 1 January. If you move to another Vaud commune during the year, the whole year stays with the commune where the dog lived on 1 January.
• Half tax for dogs acquired from 1 July (other than hunting dogs, and if no tax was due before), dogs born after 30 June, and dogs that died or left the canton before 1 July (with a commune certificate).
• Exempt: dogs under three months at the end of the year; dogs of people staying less than three months in the canton (not hunting dogs); guide dogs; and one dog per person receiving AVS/AI supplementary benefits or the RI. A health-insurance premium subsidy does not give an exemption (Lausanne).
• Dog costs are not deductible from income tax (Lausanne).

4. Training courses and listed breeds

• No general compulsory course. Federal compulsory courses for dog owners ended on 1 January 2017 (vd.ch, Lausanne).
• Potentially dangerous dogs in Vaud: American Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, Rottweiler, and any dog with a parent of one of these breeds (vd.ch names the American Bully as an example). Keeping one needs an authorisation from the cantonal veterinary office (DGAV, Saint-Sulpice), before you keep the dog, and the owner must announce such a dog to the canton without delay (RLPolC art. 2).
• The authorisation costs CHF 800 (RLPolC art. 27). An additional authorisation for a further potentially dangerous dog, or for another dog kept together with one, costs CHF 100. Documents include a criminal record extract, liability insurance certificate, course certificates, pedigree, vaccination booklet, purchase contract, ID, the AMICUS record and a passport photo.
• Owners of these dogs follow a behaviour test (TCOM) and then 72 hours of dog-training courses over at most two years, starting within 45 days of the test (Vaud regulation RLPolC), unless the canton exempts or shortens them.
• Leash: Ecublens requires dogs on a lead in walks, parks and public establishments. In Lausanne, dogs must be on a lead on public roads and places open to the public unless the dog is trained well enough not to bother other people, to stay close to you and to come back when called, and always on a lead in pedestrian streets and squares (Règlement général de police, art. 50); park zones are signposted (blue: lead, red: no dogs), and in forests and forest edges dogs must be on a lead from 1 April to 15 July (Lausanne, zones accessibles aux chiens). Renens rules: To verify.

A dog that bites or causes damage is a liability question: see Household and liability insurance.

Cats and other pets: the commune and canton rules above cover dogs only; ask your commune whether anything applies to other animals (To verify).

Bringing your dog across the border: see Bringing pets to Switzerland.