North Cyprus Microchip Law For Dogs

By Chris Elliott

Reading Ralph Kratzer’s article about micro chipping dogs, I went along to the Girne Veterinary Department on Monday of last week to start the process and was informed that micro-chipping of dogs was required by law now and was asked to go back this Monday to start the process.

Please click here to read Ralph Kratzer’s article.

On arrival I was told by a very helpful lady the system was being put in place and I should first go to my vet with my dog to have her chipped. So off I went to PetCross in Doğanköy to book an appointment to have this done. From there I called in to Kyrenia Animal Rescue in Karakum and spoke briefly with Margaret Ray who had just come back from the Ministry and she promised to forward guidelines so we could share these with our readers and you can read these below.

MICROCHIP LAW FOR DOGS

As from 1^st January 2014 a new TRNC law states that all dogs over the age of six weeks should have a Microchip and the Government are giving owners until the 1^st July to comply.

All dogs’ microchip details have to be registered with the Government Veterinary Department and a card issued.

If your dog already HAS a Microchip:-

Visit a private veterinary clinic and show your dog’s Vet card/Pet Passport with microchip entry. They will complete the Government Registration form. You pay the fee of 15TL plus the vet’s clinic costs. The private Vet will send the form to the Veterinary Department where they will enter the details on their database and issue a card. This card will be returned to your vet for you to collect.

Or you can visit the Girne Government Veterinary Department who will complete the Goverment Registration form, send it to Lefkosa and a card will be issued a few days later for you to collect. The charge is 10 TL

If you wish, you can go to the Government Veterinary Department in Lefkosa who will give you the form to complete and then issue the card. The cost will be 10 TL.

Note: At this time the Government Veterinary Department in Girne is unable to issue the cards until such time as their computers have been updated.

If your dog does NOT have a Microchip:-

Visit your private Vet clinic who will be able to insert a Microchip, complete the forms to register the microchip with the Government Veterinary Department and return the card when completed. You need to ask your Vet for a list of their charges.

Note: Microchips soon to be available in the TRNC will only be entered on the TRNC database and not an International Database as are those Microchips available through KAR. KAR records our own local Microchips and also updates the International database.

You are required to complete the Microchip registration for each dog only once and this will supersede your annual registration/worming visit to the local Government Veterinary Department.

You will only then be required to register annually at your local Belediyesi department. This should be done every January as your registration runs from January to December each year.

Some owners prefer to register their dogs when their local Belediye advertises and holds Echinococcus check up days. It is not clear at this stage which Belediye’s will continue these special days.

By Friday of this week my dog should be proudly sporting her new micro chip and I will leave a comment with any further information on this article.