[tomyedwab]

The title is misleading: the chip isn't useless, it is basically NFC and can be read just fine. The number on it can be looked up in a registry to notify the owner of a lost pet. I believe there is nothing preventing you from registering the same number with multiple registries. Hope that helps.

[darth_avocado]

> I believe there is nothing preventing you from registering the same number with multiple registries

Most cities require you to register your pet and get a license. Part of that process is to share the microchip number, vaccine records, vet info etc. Our local animal shelter usually checks with the city if a microchip is found but no ownership is established.

[OkGoDoIt]

What city requires you to register your pet and get a license? I’ve never heard of that before. Sounds kind of crazy. I’m assuming this is very regional.

[darth_avocado]

At least in the US, all states have some or the other ordinances and regulations around pets. Not only are you required to register your pets, but there’s limits to what you can keep as a pet and how many. Otherwise it’s not hard to see at least one person in the neighborhood hoarding 20 dogs.

[hulitu]

Ok. Where can I get a licence for my fish, Eric ?

[fanatic2pope]

Every city in Ohio for one.

https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-955.01

[jdsnape]

Out of interest, why does it sound kind of crazy?

Here, pets have always had to be identifiable: historically with a collar, but microchips have been required for some years now as a more effective method.

(That applies nationally, not some city thing)

[redwall_hp]

All 50 states have dog licensing in some form, but it seems that it's more a case of the state allowing municipalities to do so or not. Some states also require veterinarians to report unlicensed dogs. Larger cities almost certainly require it (NYC and Chicago definitely do).

https://www.rover.com/blog/dog-license/

Usually it's an animal welfare and control thing: you pay a lot more if you don't spay/neuter, rabies vaccination is required, etc.. Otherwise it's too easy for a city to be overrun by strays.

Also, if your pet gets lost and ends up being picked up by animal control, it's considered a stray if it's not registered.

[Sayrus]

If I remember correctly, EU will make chip tracking for pets mandatory by 2030 to unify laws that are currently made by individual states. France had this mandatory for over a decade.

If you want to travel within EU with your pet, you'll need a certificate for that as well.

No idea about how it is is the US but that doesn't sound crazy to register pets as they are at risk of being lost, abandonned, lacking vaccination or vets visits.

[Joker_vD]

You know, I regularly lose or forget my baseball caps (at least once per Summer, and usually I go through 2 or 3). I wish there was a nationally-mandated register of headwear, with obligatory chipping at the points of sale. Not even entirely joking.

On a more serious note, it's interesting to note that some property never gets any ownership marks on it, some gets it customarily but only out of convenience, there is no legal obligation to do so, and for some property it is legally-mandated by the state but owners largely find it cumbersome.

[sigwinch]

For maybe 100 years, we’ve lived in an era of diminished hat importance. I, for one, don’t want to be caught hatless around any sharp-tongued re-enactors.