The Law on the Protection of Animal Rights and Welfare establishes the obligation to identify dogs, cats, ferrets and birds by microchip. This rule not only applies to the owners of these pets, but also to the shelters and shelters that take them in. In this way, a registry of pets is kept that makes it easier, among other things, to identify their owners in case of loss.
The microchip is a small device that is injected between the animal's shoulder blades before it is three months old. It is a painless injection through which the chip consisting of 15 alphanumeric digits that identify it is inserted into the animal's skin. The authorities, veterinary clinics, shelters and animal shelters have a reader that reads the microchip to access the information it contains.
Specifically, the microchip reflects the name, breed and sex of the animal, as well as specifications about its coat and eye color, or the presence of any birthmark. Also the contact information of the owner – name, address, telephone number and email – and the veterinarian who was in charge of placing the chip on the animal.
The pet identification microchip is mandatory in Spain, where the animal's registration is carried out in the Companion Animal Registry of each autonomous community. But, in addition, it is also mandatory in all countries of the European Union, so that all member states have registries and mechanisms to read your pet's microchip.
Therefore, it is also imperative that your pet is identified by microchip if you want to travel with it or move to a country in the European Union. Now, every time a pet changes owners – for example, if it is adopted from a shelter – or there is some change in the data such as a change in the owner's phone number or address, it is necessary to go to the veterinarian to update said pet. information on the microchip.
There are several records where the microchip information is recorded. In Europe there is EuroPetNet, a group of associations that identify pets. In Spain, REIAC is the Spanish Network for the Identification of Pet Animals, a non-profit association that brings together the databases of the 17 Autonomous Communities and the two Autonomous Cities of our country.
Likewise, Petmaxx is a universal platform that brings together pet identification files in Europe, Asia, America and Oceania. In this way, pet microchips are readable in many other countries. It should be noted that in Spain, if the pet is not properly identified by the chip, the owner is exposed to a financial penalty of between 10,000 and 50,000 euros.
