Standardized chip requirement for cats and dogs to be introduced
In the future, all dogs and cats in the EU will have to be registered with a microchip. This has been decided by the EU Parliament.
(Image: heise online)
In the future, all dogs and cats in the EU will have to be identified and registered with a microchip. For the first time, the European Parliament has adopted EU-wide minimum standards for the breeding, keeping and identification of dogs and cats. The new regulation is to apply to all dogs and cats kept and imported in the EU. The Parliament still has to agree on this with the Council of Member States.
Until now, there has been no uniform, mandatory chipping requirement for all dogs and cats in the EU. Many EU countries, including Germany, already have regional or national regulations that require dogs and, in some cases, cats to be chipped and registered. The first mandatory chipping for pets was introduced in 2011, initially for dogs, cats and ferrets traveling in the EU.
These are transponder microchips, which have been common in the pet sector for years. The chips are usually implanted under the skin by vets, usually in the neck. They contain a unique 15-digit identification number. The associated information, age, sex and origin of the animal, is stored in national databases and, according to the EU Parliament, will then also be stored in a central EU index database.
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Against illegal animal trade
The microchip is used exclusively for the unique identification and traceability of animals, and is already known from existing regulations for pet passports and travel. Until now, dogs and cats could sometimes be brought into the EU as pets and then sold on. Dogs and cats coming into the EU from a country outside the EU for sale must be microchipped and registered online in a national database at least five working days before arrival.
Parliament is also tackling other problems such as the keeping or sale of dogs and cats in pet shops and wants to ban the latter, for example. "MEPs will now start negotiations with the Council on the final form of the law", says the EU Parliament. It is therefore still unclear when the law will come into force.
(mack)
