Minister for Regional Affairs and Agriculture Hendrik Johannes Terras (Eesti 200) said that the bill, to amend the Veterinary Act, has now returned from its approval round from stakeholders at the various ministries.

Pet ferrets are also covered by the same requirement to be microchipped, if the bill passes into law pending government approval and a Riigikogu vote.

The practice of microchipping pet dogs has been in existence in Estonia for around 20 years now.

"There are a few comments we're working through right now so that it suits everyone. The bill concerns cats, dogs, and ferrets. After taking the feedback into account, we'll send the bill to Europe to make sure there are no inconsistencies with EU legislation. Once that's done, we can present the draft to the government," Terras said.

When the microchipping requirement will take effect depends, according to Terras, on how quickly the legislative process moves forward.

"The goal is to move forward as quickly as possible, as this problem keeps growing. It is a very important step toward bringing animal welfare into the 21st century. I expect the bill will reach the Riigikogu early next year or in the first half of the year. It will take effect according to how the law is passed," Terras said.

Terras said chipping pets, most notably cats, is needed in case an animal goes missing and ends up in a shelter. Microchipping will enable faster identification and reuniting with the owner, he added. "To get a cat back to its owner as quickly as possible, it's important that it's microchipped and registered."

The bill will also unify the current, several pet registers under a single list operated by the state Agricultural Registers and Information Board (PRIA), where all data will be accessible to enable the various shelters, NGOs, and people or institutions dealing with animals to get the information from the one place.

"This is important to reduce the number of stray animals. We introduced the microchipping requirement for dogs 20 years ago, and it has worked very well. Behind that success has been close cooperation with animal welfare organizations and veterinarians to make it happen. The goal is certainly not to punish anyone, but to protect cats and reduce the number of stray cats, which are the most common [animal] in shelters," Terras went on.

Shelters have repeatedly called for a universal microchipping requirement for cats.

"Across Estonia, only a few percent of cats have readable chips that allow us to call their owner. And cats end up in shelters tens of times more frequently than dogs, so that's where the problem lies, and that's what we need to solve," Triinu Priks of the NGO Varjupaikade MTÜ, had previously told ERR.

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