Is your pet’s microchip implant certified by the government? At a press conference on Nov. 27, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Hui-chen said that the specifications for pet microchips have not been standardized since the government’s initial promotion of the pet registration system in 1999. If a pet owner has a substandard microchip inserted in their pet by mistake, scanners at inspection stations will not be able to read the chip information, and the pet may be euthanized. Chiang demanded that the Council of Agriculture (COA) adopt a common international standard for pet microchips immediately.
Hsu Kuei-sen, head of the COA’s Department of Animal Husbandry, admitted that the promotion of microchip specifications is insufficient. He urges pet owners to identify the official microchip logos and choose legitimate veterinarians who have signed contracts with the government, and make sure officially recognized microchips with either 10-digit or 15-digit microchip numbers are implanted. They must then register the chip ID on the COA’s “Pet Registration Information System” Web site at www.pet.gov.tw.
To remind pet owners to have microchips inserted in their pets, the COA’s division of animal protection reinforced its inspection in public places, such as parks, beginning last year. If the pet is not microchipped, the owner may face a fine of between NT$3,000 and NT$15,000. As of October this year, the animal protection division has carried out a total of 24,659 inspections, issuing 11 tickets and 6,928 warnings.
Photos: Taipei Times
照片:台北時報
Chiang says there is vast array of pet microchips in circulation, but only those containing 10-digit or 15-digit numbers have been certified by the government. Many animal clinics keen to cut costs do not adopt government specifications and pet owners generally have no idea which microchip to choose. As a result, when a pet is lost and sent to an animal shelter, it may be designated as an “orphan” simply because the microchip implant cannot be read with a scanner.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Lin Ya-ti)
你替寵物植入的晶片是通過政府認證的嗎?國民黨立委江惠貞十一月二十七日召開記者會指出,政府自一九九九年起推行寵物登記管理制,至今仍未統一寵物晶片規格,飼主若誤植不合格晶片,寵物走失時,將無法經檢驗所掃描器讀取,慘遭安樂死。她要求農委會應盡速採用國際通用的晶片規格。
Photos: Taipei Times
照片:台北時報
農委會畜牧處處長許桂森表示,晶片規格宣導的確還有改進空間,呼籲飼主認明標章,以及與政府簽約的合法獸醫師,植入官方認定的十位碼或十五位碼晶片,並登入農委會網站「寵物登記管理資訊網」(www.pet.gov.tw),寵物登記手續才告完備。
為提醒飼主替愛犬植入晶片,農委會動保科自去年開始加強公共場所稽查,例如公園,飼主若經查獲未替愛犬植晶片,可罰新台幣三千元至新台幣一萬五千元罰鍰。截至今年十月份為止,動保科共稽查兩萬四千六百五十九件,僅十一件開罰,六千九百二十八件採勸導。
江惠貞說,坊間流通的寵物晶片琳琅滿目,但僅有十位碼與十五位碼是經過政府認定合格,許多獸醫院貪圖便宜,不願意採用政府認定規格,飼主也搞不清楚,導致走失寵物送至收容所後,因掃描器無法讀取而遭判「孤兒」。
(自由時報記者顏若瑾)
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