Digital Identity for Stray Animals: Microchip Application from Fatih Municipality

Fatih Municipality continues the microchip implantation in order to facilitate the follow-up of stray cats and dogs, to transfer their health records to the digital environment in a safe way and to carry out the adoption processes more effectively.

Health Affairs Directorate of Fatih Municipality is systematically implementing the ‘Microchip Implantation’ in order to monitor stray animals in a healthy way and to carry out adoption processes in a safe framework. In this context, a total of 1555 stray animals were registered with microchips in 2025. In the same year, 129 animals were adopted and found new homes.

Microchip implantation is applied by placing an electronic device the size of a grain of rice under the skin of the animal. Thanks to this chip, which carries an identification number unique to each animal, the animal's name, breed, age, description, vaccination history and information belonging to the owner or institution can be easily identified. This information is centrally recorded through the HAYBİS-PETVET system of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and can be accessed by authorised institutions.

The main purpose of the application is to ensure the follow-up of stray animals, to regularise treatment processes and to secure adoption procedures. One of the most important advantages of this system is the instant identification of lost or abandoned animals. Thanks to the microchip, an animal can be identified for life, while the inspection, follow-up and treatment services of local administrations and veterinary clinics can be carried out more regularly and effectively.

Fatih Municipality carries out microchip application free of charge in order to support the adoption process. Animals delivered to their new owners are also given an identity card. In this way, a sustainable system is established in terms of both animal health and public health.

Both protecting cats and dogs living on the streets and integrating them into the public system by registering them is considered as an important step in terms of animal welfare. Fatih Municipality aims to improve the living conditions of stray animals and encourage responsible pet ownership with this application.

The municipality, which meticulously maintains every step towards the protection of animal rights, enables both the healthy functioning of individual adoptions and the establishment of a transparent and regular control mechanism at the institutional level thanks to microchip implantation. Thus, stray animals can more easily receive the attention and protection they deserve with their identities.