Cats taken as pets before January 1 2022 must now be chipped and registered within a year from now, following a policy for doing the same with dogs – which has resulted in a significant fall in the number of dogs needing to be taken in by shelters.

Since most cats taken to shelters are unchipped, this makes it hard to return them to their owners.

Micro-chipping costs around €30, €11.50 of which constitutes the registration fee, BNS reports.

Newly-born domestic dogs and cats will need to be chipped within three months of their birth, with that time-scale reduced to one month in the case of pets acquired when fully-grown, from January 1.

The policy has been in place in Tallinn since 2018.

The national pet register is here, while the actual process of chipping - inserting a micro-chip around the size of a grain of rice under the animal's skin - can be carried out by any veterinarian.

Registration is recommended, but not mandatory, for other pets whose type and activity would merit it or be viable.

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