The president of the Veterinary Profession Association of Las Palmas, Alejandro Suárez, presented this Friday at noon to the municipalities of Gran Canaria the device to identify companion animals, which will be used by municipal technicians and local police to recognize and register pets through microchips.
In Spain, one in three households lives with at least one companion animal. Thus, according to information from the pet registries of the autonomous communities, there are currently more than thirteen million registered and identified companion animals.
Despite this, studies such as the one conducted jointly by the Affinity Foundation and the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine of the Autonomous University of Barcelona indicate that only 27.7% of dogs arriving at shelters are identified with a microchip, while in the case of cats, it is reduced to 4.3%.
This implies that the majority of companion animals are outside of official control as they are not legally identified, with the risk that this entails both for their adequate protection and for public safety and health and the conservation of biodiversity.
According to data from the Gran Canaria Island Animal Shelter, 90% of dogs and 99% of cats entering the premises do not have a microchip. Spain, and especially the Canary Islands, are at the forefront of pet abandonment and deficiencies in animal welfare. This campaign, which will be implemented in the municipalities of the Canary Islands, will try to eradicate this anomaly or reduce it to a minimum.
Law 7/2023 on Animal Welfare states that "dogs, cats, and ferrets, as well as birds, which will be identified by banding from birth, will be subject to mandatory identification by microchip." The registration of all companion animals will be carried out in the Companion Animal Registry of each autonomous community. Penalties for pet owners without an identifying microchip range from 10,000 to 50,000 euros.
The Canary Animal Identification Registry (Zoocan) has certified collaboration agreements with Public Administrations and the Official Equine Registry of the Government of the Canary Islands. There are 45 agreements with local administrations through the municipal census and two agreements with island corporations through the island census.
Spain, and especially the Canary Islands, are at the forefront of pet abandonment and deficiencies in animal welfare. This campaign, which will be implemented in the municipalities of the Canary Islands, will try to eradicate this anomaly or reduce it to a minimum significantly.
The president of the Regional Council and of the Veterinary Profession Association of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Marisa Fernández, could not attend the presentation of the companion animal identification campaign, whose slogan is The microchip is the key, because she could not travel to Gran Canaria due to the storm.
In addition to the president of the Health Profession Association of Las Palmas, Alejandro Suárez, the technical and political representatives of the municipalities and the various local police forces attended the presentation of the campaign. The two Veterinary Associations of the Canary Islands carry out agreements with the City Councils, mainly for the management of the Municipal Census and the development of campaigns such as this one.
