Obligatory microchipping of all dogs is delayed by one month, so instead of June 1st, as initially announced, it will commence on the first day of July.
The reason for the delay is the inability to procure them on time.
Once the dog or cat is chipped, the data will be entered into the central register, which will be linked to all veterinary hospitals. The owner's data will also be entered on the database, so the entire procedure will allow them to be linked to the animals, which, as the authorities believe, would ultimately initiate a more responsible behavior of the pet owners.
By the end of the year, the state will subsidize 10,000 dogs. The owners, instead of €25, which is the usual price for chipping at the veterinary clinic, will have to pay two euros for each pet.
Last autumn, the Ministry of Agriculture adopted the Ordinance on the method of identifying dogs and cats, but the document could be altered, as the members of Milutin Simovic’s ministry department asked for comments to the animal protection associations only after its approval. The associations believe that the adopted document is not comprehensive, so the length of the comments and suggestions sent to the authorities is almost equal to the length of the original rulebook.
"We did not invent hot water, but we were investigating the rulebooks from the region," said several associations.
The valid rulebook obligates the owners to have newborn dogs and cats shipped no later than 90 days from the date of birth, i.e., during the first vaccination against viral diseases or leaving their mothers.
The civilian sector has suggested that owners should not be allowed any health care for an animal that has not previously been identified with a microchip.
The Animal Protection Association has also suggested a detailed description of the types of data that are entered into the central database, which will contain information about owners and pets.
They also requested that animal owners who are temporarily on the territory of Montenegro and identified with a microchip which does not comply with the standards prescribed by the Montenegrin rulebook must provide the appropriate reader.
In the comments, more NGOs also asked for a detailed description of the passport, i.e., identification document of the animal, and asked for the obligation of the owner to be entered, in case of the death of the dog or cat, the registered person needs to report it, and the passport is returned to the authorized marker, so that the animal would be signed off from the central database.
When compulsory chipping begins, owners of dogs and cats, as previously said by the Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Department, can chip their pets at any veterinary clinic.
Dogs that were previously labeled with a prescribed microchip will not be re-chipped, but data will only be entered in the animal passport and the Pet Registry. The dog can only be re-chipped if the old chip is impossible to read. As to how the registration is to be implemented in this case, the Management Board will, as they have said, notify the owners in due time.
By the end of the year, the state will also finance vaccination against rabies. Thus, after the application of the microchip, the dogs will be vaccinated against rabies free of charge.
Text by Damira Kalac, on June 17th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
