Regulation on identification and registration of pets in Turkey and current practice

The regulation on “cats, dogs and ferrets living at home was published in the Official Gazette and went into effect as of January 1, 2023. The regulation imposes the necessity for dogs, cats and ferrets living at home to be registered and fitted with a microchip. The deadline given for the chip to be installed was December 31, 2022. An administrative fine of 3 thousand 642 Turkish Liras (TL) will be imposed on people who have not had their pets older than 6 months fitted with a chip by this date.

WHAT INFORMATION DOES THE CHIP RECORD?

Information such as animal’s name, passport number, type, race, sex, color, birth date, as well as contact information including owner’s name and address info such as province, district etcetera along with vaccination and operation (if any) info and also info regarding change of owner etcetera are recorded on the chip.

The chip price is normally 85 TL in provincial / district agriculture and forestry directorates. In private veterinarians, the base price starts from 300 TL.

1 MILLION 101 THOUSAND 557 PETS WERE CHIPPED

According to the statement made by the Turkish Veterinary Medical Association regarding the identification of cats, dogs and ferrets, it is estimated that there are between 4 and 6 million owned pets in Turkey.

The number of animals that have been chipped so far is about 1 million. So, according to the data released on December 21, about 25 percent of pets were chipped. According to the statement made by the Ministry today, 1 million 101 thousand 557 pets were identified and registered.

EXTENSION OF PERIOD TO HAVE THE PETS CHIPPED?

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Vahit Kirisci, in his statement after the cabinet held in Beştepe on December 26, replied to the question asked about the possibility of extending the period due to the obligation to have a chip installed by December 31, “We will take a look at it; that is, we will evaluate it by looking at the overall progress of the figures so far, it may be”.

According to the Ministry’s statement made today (December 28th), people who do not have their pets fitted with a chip by December 31st should apply to provincial / district agriculture and forestry directorates, freelance veterinarians with a declaration in order to avoid criminal proceedings. There are no restrictions on the treatment of unclaimed animals by veterinarians.

According to another information contained in the statement, an administrative fine of 6 thousand 72 TL will be applied to people who abandon their pets with the new year.

WHAT ABOUT ANIMALS CARED FOR ON THE STREET?

Ayşem Özleiş Oğuz, Istanbul Provincial Chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Animal Rights Commission, who evaluated the necessity of attaching chips to pets to the media, said, “The chip is not an extremely functional thing, but maybe it can help to prevent abandonment to some extent. I don’t think it’s functional in general terms, because it was not worked on pproperly. There is a lot of speculation on the topic. There are many animal care volunteers. The municipality should chip the animals that are cared for on the street, but there is no chipping practice in most of the municipalities. People are worried.”

AIM TO INTRODUCE MICROCHIP APPLICATION IN TURKEY

The microchip application also aims to monitor the health checks of cats and dogs, to find animals in cases of being left on the street, lost or abducted, and to identify and punish those who leave or kidnap them on the street.

SOURCE: medyascope.tv/2022/12/28/tum-yonleriyle-evcil-hayvanlara-zorunlu-cip-uygulamasi-31-aralikta-sure-doluyor/
Translated and edited by BTT, with additions