The Ministry of the Environment is proposing to no longer charge a fee for registering dogs or cats from 2027. This would supposedly encourage more people to register. The registration itself costs pennies, while microchipping pets is much more expensive. However, veterinarians note that animal identification and registration is no longer such a pressing issue.
6-year-old Bichon Frise, Bučkis, is not microchipped and is not registered in the pet registry.
"I'm not letting him go, he's my pet puppy. I didn't register him, I don't need him," said the dog's owner, Juozas.
A terrier named Kaja is 13 years old. She is registered.
"They are all chipped, have been in shows, bought from kennels, we protect them, take care of them, but in old age a mole appeared that needs to be removed," said the dog's owner, Vilija.
She explains why pet data is needed.
"It is also necessary to put it in case the dog gets lost, and especially during the festive period, fireworks scare it. We protect the animal - it is still a member of the family," Vilija assured.
Veterinarians know all sorts of stories about lost pets.
"People found a cat in Švėkšna, and he is from Dituva Gardens. They found him only because he had a chip. People looked for him for two months, and it turns out that this was the way. DPD arrived, the door opened, the cat jumped into the car — and he ended up in Švėkšna," said veterinarian Christina Arutiunian.
The Ministry of the Environment is proposing to eliminate the fee for registering dogs, cats and ferrets from 2027. Then, veterinarians who microchip pets would no longer include this fee in the price of the service. Last year, only 240 euros were collected from this fee, and it is expensive to administer.
"The point here is not the tax, but people's awareness. If a person considers their pet a member of the family, takes care of it, feeds it, water it, sometimes takes it on trips — then they should take a responsible approach to chipping and health care," said the dog's owner, Vilija.
The pet registration fee is less than 60 cents, while microchipping costs between 20 and 30 euros.
"There is no point in chipping and not registering. Because we see the owner's data in the registration," explained C. Arutiunian.
A veterinarian working in the largest garden community in Lithuania, Dituva, with a registered population of about 5 and even more animals, notes that animal marking and registration is no longer a problem after a new rabies control procedure was established last year.
"Chipping is very popular right now — simply because in order to get the rabies vaccine, you have to be chipped. This means that if you want your pet to get the vaccine, it has to be chipped. That's how people started chipping," said the veterinarian.
Microchipping and registration of pets has been mandatory for four years now. There are currently 169 cats, 318 dogs and 618 ferrets on the register.
Author: Ramunė Bandzienė I LNK.LT
