Cats and dogs entered into workbooks not found when lost.
Estonia has over hundred useless pet registers
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These are the «workbook registers», as christened by veterinarians and shelter chiefs.
Workbook registers are the checkered workbooks in local government drawers, or Excel tables, where officials enter chip numbers of animals or their descriptions.
Animals in workbook registers are not found when lost. Meanwhile, Estonia abounds with local governments where citizens, should they follow the letter of the law, ought to enter their pets in the very local registers (read: workbook registers – edit).
Like, for instance, in Maardu. As admitted by Maardu city secretary Tiiu-Ann Kaldma, the workbook is not being entered too diligently at all. Why hasn’t Maardu joined the pan-Estonian registers? «The nice short answer is: it’s no use for the city,» is Maardu’s standpoint. As stated by the city secretary, local governments’ interests might lie in taxation of pet owners, or in the right to punish owners for stray dogs. According to her, finding lost dogs is no public interest.
The city of Tartu, indeed planning to join some state registers this year, is currently in the Excel sheet stage – according to specialists, however, such databases are useless. «One may right here: the name is Masha, striped,» said Janne Orro, a veterinarian.
In Harju County alone there are eight local governments where animal owners have to chip their pets. Even so, just a chip will not help. For a lost animal to be found, it also needs to be in an all-Estonian register. Estonia has three working registers: local governments’ pet register (LLR), Estonian pet register, and Kennel Union register. The latter only takes pedigree dogs.
With LLR or Estonian pet register, 37 local governments have joined out of the total 215. Whoever has entered his pet in said registers will usually find it. With pedigree dogs, specialists underline that often a pre-chipped dog is purchased, but that alone will not ensure it being found – the chip number must also be entered in the register.
Just chip no use
That’s exactly what happened, last spring, with Merle Tamm’s dog called Chilly. Chilly is a white West Highland terrier – a teddy-bear like white thing, some two dozen centimetres counted from ground. Chilly had been lost for a week when its breeder discovered a notice in a Russian language portal and recognised the dog sold to Ms Tamm. The lady travelled to Jõhvi and met the sellers who asked her €200. For what? «They had bought a new collar and injected the dog against ticks,» said Ms Tamm. Though not in agreement with the demand, she wanted to take Chilly home and thus paid the money. Was the dog in the register? «That was the problem,» said Ms Tamm. Chilly was chipped, yet not entered into countrywide register.
Had the dog been registered, Ms Tamm would have had no need to give in to the money-demanders as she’d been much better equipped to prove ownership. Also: had Chilly been sold to somebody else, the dog would have ended up at a veterinarian’s anyhow, some day, and the veterinarian would have discovered original owners from the chip.
Tartu homeless pet shelter project manager Kirke Roosaar explained the process when a dog comes in their hands. By chip-reader, their people check the dog’s marking number. If the dog is registered in LLR or Estonian pet register, they will see owner’s contact data.
If there are no data, the shelter has recourse to Kennel Union as the owner may have opted to their pedigree registration only. As to the workbook registers, the shelters have no overview whatsoever.
Problematic
«That’s a problem,» said Ms Roosaar. According to her, two thirds of dogs brought to the shelter end up being found by owners. Mainly, these are the pan-Estonian registered dogs. A third of the dogs go to new owners.
The EU wide register is called EuroPetNet. Of Estonian databases, only Estonian pet register has joined up. This is a paid database – to join costs €11.
To transport a pet in European Union, a European pet passport is required. That goes for both dogs and cats. Getting a passport requires the animal having a chip, the number of which will be entered in the document. In which register should an animal be entered for the passport to be of use while travelling? «That’s a good question,» said Ms Orro the veterinarian. Police and Border Guard Board didn’t know the answer. Same goes for Tax and Customs Board.
Comment
Janne Orro, head of Janne Orro animal clinic
When it comes to pet health, chipping is harmless and in a way lessens threats to its life and health.
A chip is a small electronic device that, laid under the skin, is inert, will not radiate anything, and emanates no harmless substances. Onto the chip is entered an 11 digit unique number combination – nothing else. The number can be read with a special reader.
To the pet and its owner, a chip is only of use when the contact data of both are entered into a register. An unregistered chip will indeed link the pet to the vaccination certificate issued to it, but if the pet is lost it is no use if unregistered. When a pet is lost while abroad, the chip is only of use if the data are entered into Estonian pet register – this being the only register operating in Estonia joined with the pan-European EuroPetNet.