An initiative to introduce a system of identification and registration of pets, including the creation of a Unified State Register of Animals, has been presented in Kyiv. This is reported by Komersant ukrainskyi
with reference to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
This project envisages changes in the process of issuing veterinary passports and their digitalisation. Previously, only state veterinary institutions could issue such documents.
With the launch of this programme, state veterinary passports will also be available in private veterinary clinics that will participate in the project.
According to the agency, owners will be able to register their pets in the Register when they visit a veterinarian. This will create an electronic veterinary passport that will contain all information about the animal, including vaccination data.
Thus, in case of loss of a paper passport, the data can be easily recovered. According to the agency, registration will also help facilitate the process of finding lost dogs, cats and ferrets, identifying them and returning them to their owners.
According to the animal protection organisation Save Pets of Ukraine, the number of stray animals in the country increases by 60% annually during the war.
“The introduction of a pet identification and registration system is a successful European practice that allows us to comprehensively solve the problem, not only by regulating the number of stray animals but also by effectively counteracting the spread of rabies,” said Denys Bashlyk, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.
How the project will be implemented
The project is being implemented in two stages.
The first stage will start this autumn. The Unified State Register of Pets will be launched and registration for pet owners will be opened, which will take place during a visit to a veterinarian.
The service will be provided free of charge by state and licensed private veterinarians who have become Project participants and have access to the Register (a list of such doctors throughout Ukraine will be available on the map of veterinary clinics on the project portal pet.gov.ua).
During the second stage, when the registration of pets becomes widespread and the Register is sufficiently filled, the project team will display the veterinary passports of registered animals in the Diia app.