Cat owners would be required to register their pets with the government and have them implanted with microchips after new pet management rules take effect in the following months, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday.
Owners would have a one-year grace period or until September next year to comply with the rules, it added.
The ministry is implementing the measure after it required people to register their pet dogs, and the new management rules would be renamed to subject owners of pet dogs and cats to registration requirements.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office
Last year, the number of pet dogs in the country increased by 19 percent from 2020 to reach 1.48 million, while the number of pet cats increased by 50 percent to 1.31 million.
“The new management rules would enable the agency to better manage the pet cats around the nation, as a high percentage of cat owners seek to register their pets,” Ministry of Agriculture Department of Animal Welfare Deputy Director Chen Chung-hsin (陳中興) said.
“The rules are first subject to a 30-day public view period and are scheduled to take effect next month and in October,” Chen said.
“Cat owners would have a one-year grace period to register their pets with the animal protection agencies at the local governments. Pet owners who fail to register would be subject to penalties once the grace period ends,” Chen added.
The Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) stipulate that pet owners would be fined from NT$3,000 to NT$15,000 if they fail to follow regulations to own, transfer or register the births and deaths of their pets.
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