Unified State Register of Pets is introduced in Ukraine
The future plans of the Project include the integration of the Unified State Register with international pet databases, in particular Europetnet. The initiative has already been supported by international and Ukrainian animal protection organizations and the veterinary community.
On November 3, 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted the Resolution on the implementation of the project on the identification and registration of domestic animals. The implementation of a unified state system of registration and identification of domestic animals is a request with which the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food is constantly addressed by animal protection organizations, veterinary associations and associations of responsible owners. This Resolution is the response of state institutions to the public request of Ukrainians.
In Ukraine, the number of homeless animals is increasing: as a result of the war, even more cats and dogs are lost and end up on the streets, and this creates new challenges for the sanitary and veterinary situation in cities, increasing the burden on shelters.
The evacuation of animals from war zones takes place every day, but there is a catastrophic shortage of places in shelters. The creation of the Unified State Register has a positive effect on a number of factors associated with the increase in the number of animals found on the streets. In particular, the Register provides for the possibility of informing about lost and found animals. If the owner has lost the animal, he will be able to report it, and when the animal is found, he will be notified.
Registration of animals will be voluntary and free of charge.
"The government makes sure that all citizens, regardless of their financial capabilities, can register their pets. We have created opportunities and recommend doing so, but the final decision remains with the owner," said Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization Denys Bashlyk.
Previously, veterinary and sanitary passports were issued only by state veterinary clinics and only in paper form. The adopted resolution eliminates the monopoly of state veterinarians on the registration and identification of domestic animals and makes it possible to issue an electronic veterinary and sanitary passport also to licensed veterinarians working in private hospitals.
This innovation significantly increases the number of places where registration and identification of animals can be carried out, and makes the service available both in cities with a large number of veterinarians and in rural areas. The creation of the Unified State Register will allow keeping records of domestic animals, ensuring at the state level planning and adequate financing of the fight against rabies and other diseases for the prevention and protection of the population, as well as bringing Ukrainian legislation in line with international standards.
"Already today, Ukraine submitted an application to simplify the conditions of entry into the EU for Ukrainians together with their pets. Identification of cats and dogs is mandatory in the EU, and its introduction in Ukraine at the state level is one of the elements that will allow us to get such simplifications and show how quickly Ukraine is integrating into European legislation. In the future, the Ukrainian Register will be integrated with international databases of domestic animals," commented Olga Shevchenko, Deputy Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
The project is implemented in two stages. During the first phase, which will begin this fall, the Unified State Register of Pets will be launched and registration will be opened for pet owners, which will take place during a visit to the veterinarian. The service will be provided free of charge by state and licensed private veterinarians who have become participants in the Project and have access to the Register (a list of such doctors throughout Ukraine can be seen on the map of vet clinics on the pet.gov.ua project portal).
During the second stage, when the registration of pets becomes massive and the Register is sufficiently full, the project team will implement the display of veterinary passports of registered animals in the Diya application.
The future plans of the Project include the integration of the Unified State Register with international pet databases, in particular Europetnet. The initiative has already been supported by international and Ukrainian animal protection organizations and the veterinary community. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) provided a special grant under which almost 7,000 cats and dogs were chipped and vaccinated against rabies and other diseases free of charge, and 20 veterinarians carried out practical testing of the Register. After processing the test results, the launch of the Unified State Register of Pets will be announced on the websites of the project's initiators and in the media.
The project to introduce the registration and identification of companion animals is an important step for the formation of a culture of responsible and humane treatment of pets. The project was created at the initiative of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine and the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection and is carried out with the participation of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.