The government introduces electronic vet passports: how will it affect the registration of animals in Ukraine

A new initiative for registration and identification of domestic animals is starting in Ukraine, which was initiated by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food together with the State Production and Consumer Service and the Ministry of Digital Transformation. The project was officially presented at the “Dog Fest” festival in Kyiv, where Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy Denys Bashlyk announced the launch of the Unified State Register of Pets.  About this writes “Government Portal”.

The main idea of ​​the project is to digitize veterinary passports. Previously, such documents could only be issued by state veterinary institutions, but now, thanks to a new initiative, they will be available in private clinics that have joined the project. Electronic vet passports will be stored in the Registry, and all information about the animal, including vaccination history, will be available for recovery in case of loss of the paper document.

Another important goal of the project is to solve the problem of the growing number of homeless animals in Ukraine, which worsened during the war. Thanks to the Register, it will be easier to identify lost animals and return them to their owners, which will significantly reduce the burden on shelters and volunteers.

The project will also contribute to the effective fight against rabies and control over the population of homeless animals, which is an important European standard. Registration of pets in the Registry will begin this fall, and pet owners will be able to do so during a visit to the veterinarian for free.

The project is implemented in two stages: first, the Register will be launched and animal registration will begin, and later, when the database is sufficiently filled, electronic vet passports will become available through the Diya application. Future plans include integration of the Register with international databases, such as Europetnet.

The initiative was supported by Ukrainian and international animal protection organizations, as well as the veterinary community. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) provided a grant that enabled more than 7,000 animals to be chipped and vaccinated for free, and 20 veterinarians participated in testing the Registry. After the completion of the testing, the official launch of the Register will be announced.