The process of microchipping involves the insertion of a chip, generally around the size of a grain of rice, under the skin of a pet.
Keystone-SDA
The Swiss federal authorities are reviewing whether owners must ensure that their cat is microchipped.
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The Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) believes that a national solution would be welcome and offer numerous advantages in terms of animal welfare, it told the Keystone-ATS news agency on Friday, following a Blick newspaper report on this issue.
A national solution would be a good basis for the application of Swiss animal protection legislation, it said.
Owners would therefore be made more responsible, FSVO says. The need to go to the vet would also make them more aware of health issues. In addition, a national microchip solution would provide a basis for studies to measure the impact of cats on biodiversity, says the FSVO.
According to the Swiss Cat Friends Association (Katzenfreunde Schweiz), there are between 100,000 and 300,000 feral cats living in Switzerland. Birds, reptiles and insects are victims of the uncontrolled proliferation of cats.
At the end of 2019, the Federal Council and the House of Representatives decided not to make microchipping compulsory. After weighing up the advantages and disadvantages, the need for compulsory microchipping was not considered necessary, says OSAV.
Since then, however, the situation has changed, as the subject has been taken up in various cantons. According to FSVO, a national solution seems more effective than a cantonal “patchwork”.
Translated from German by DeepL/sb
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