Demand from Tyrol

Animal welfare association: “Chipping compulsory for cats too!”

A special device, like this one at the Mentlberg animal shelter, reads the data from the chip. This is then entered into an online database, allowing the cat to be identified.

(Bild: Birbaumer Johanna)

While dogs must be chipped, this only applies to cats for breeding purposes. The Tierschutzverein für Tirol sees this as a major shortcoming that causes enormous animal suffering and costs for the public purse.

The runaway cat Coco wandered around for two months until - as reported - she was discovered in the engine compartment of a car involved in an accident in Innsbruck. Because the animal had no chip, it took several days before her desperate owner was found. With a chip, the reunion would have been possible much sooner.

Tricky for the stray animal problem
"The lack of mandatory chipping in Austria has a particularly fatal effect on the stray cat problem," says Veronika Rom-Erhard, Chairwoman of the Animal Welfare Association for Tyrol. This is because many stray cats are practically impossible to identify. "This means we can't monitor the neutering obligation," she regrets.

The chip is injected under the skin like a syringe.

(Bild: Birbaumer Johanna)

This way, we can't control mandatory castration.

Veronika Rom-Erhard, Obfrau Tierschutzverein für Tirol

Great animal suffering is one of the consequences. According to Rom-Erhard, compulsory chipping would also save the public purse a lot of money. "Then the animal shelters wouldn't have to bear the cost of castration." However, the chip alone is only useful if the animal is also compulsorily registered in an online database.

Do not impose further requirements on farmers
The ÖVP (Austrian People's Party) prevented the chip requirement - above all animal welfare spokesperson Josef Hechenberger, President of the Tyrolean Chamber of Agriculture. He did not want to impose further requirements on farmers, such as the chipping of cats. As a result, the chip requirement was not included in the amendments to the Animal Welfare Act.

„Krone“-Kommentar

Wenn eine Pflicht allen nur nützt

Regulations, rules, constraints - nobody really likes them. But sometimes regulations make sense. The mandatory chipping of cats, together with equally mandatory registration in a database, falls into this category, and a corresponding legal basis would be absolutely in keeping with the times. However, it only exists for breeding cats.

This is about animal welfare and quickly returning found pets to their - usually desperate - owners. Chipping does not cause the cats any pain and the cost of 80 euros for a long cat life is not too high. There is no disadvantage for anyone.

This makes it all the more regrettable that many people are still reluctant to have their cats chipped - supported by VP animal welfare spokesman Josef Hechenberger. He talks about reducing the bureaucratic burden for everyone, but what he really means is his farmers. Of course, he cannot conclusively explain why chipping is not reasonable for highly subsidized farmers of all people. Perhaps because the castration requirement remains a toothless tiger?

Compulsory chipping was dropped from the animal protection amendment, and Hechenberger and the farmers are partly to blame for the suffering of stray cats.