Taiwan: new pet ID system, registration trends and vet concentration

Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture has launched a digital pet ID system to curb smuggling and illegal breeding and improve animal welfare.

The scheme updates the existing Pet Registration Information System, making it 100% paperless and digital.

Animal Welfare Department Director Chiang Wen-chuan noted in a press conference that the new tool is intended to provide potential pet owners valuable insights when considering purchasing or adopting an animal.

According to the Animal Protection Act, only dogs are currently required to be registered, but officials note that this may soon become the policy for cats, too.

How will it work?

The digital identification cards will include a photograph of the pet, its birth date, the name of its owner, and vaccination and sterilization details.

The new system aims to provide more transparency in learning where animals came from and monitor breeding facilities, thus helping reduce illegal breeding activities and animal smuggling.

Additionally, it enables adopters to notify welfare agencies of suspicious activities, such as breeders failing to provide pets’ details.

The government is also considering providing vaccine discounts after registration to encourage more pet registrations.

Some figures

According to the Pet Registration Information System, there were 94,544 registered dogs and 137,652 cats in 2023.

Recent figures from the Council of Agriculture’s Department of Animal Industry reported by local media concluded that the number of dogs registered in Taiwan decreased by nearly 500,000 in the last 5 years.

Taiwan’s pet population was estimated to be around 1.4 million dogs and 820,000 cats in 2022.

Veterinarian concentration

According to the latest Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine reports, the East Asian country has 3,993 small animal veterinarians out of 5,773. These veterinarians are more concentrated in areas populated by tech professionals like Hsinchu City.

New Taipei City has the highest concentration of veterinarians (84.3%), followed by Kaohsiung (78.4%) and Taoyuan (76.7%).

On average, each veterinarian looks after 575 animals, compared to 2,500 in Japan and 4,000 in the US. The growing affinity for pets has led to increased investments in medical facilities in the country. It was estimated that Taiwanese pet parents spend an average of NT$28,081 ($891/€813.53) per year on their pets.