Chapter III, Article 20 · Regulation (EU) 2026/1818

Contents

Article 20Identification and registration of dogs and cats#

1.All dogs and cats kept in establishments, placed on the market or owned by pet owners or by any other natural or legal persons shall be individually identified by means of a single injectable transponder containing a readable microchip that complies with the requirements set out in Annex II.

2.Operators shall ensure that dogs and cats born in their establishments are individually identified within three months after their birth, and in any event before the date that they are placed on the market.Operators of selling establishments and shelters, and operators who place and are responsible for dogs and cats in foster homes, shall ensure that dogs and cats that enter their establishments or come under their responsibility are individually identified within 30 days of arrival and in any event before the date of their placing on the market.Pet owners and any other natural or legal persons other than operators who own dogs or cats shall ensure that every dog or cat is individually identified at the latest when it reaches the age of three months or, if the dog or cat is placed on the market, before the date of that placing on the market.The implantation of the transponder shall be performed by a veterinarian. Member States may allow the implantation of transponders by persons other than veterinarians provided that they adopt national rules laying down the minimum qualifications that such persons are required to have.Where dogs and cats have been individually identified by means of an injectable transponder containing a microchip in accordance with Union or national law before 31 August 2028, they shall be considered to be compliant with the requirements in paragraph 1 and the first, second, third and fourth subparagraphs of this paragraph, provided that the microchip is still readable.

3.Within two working days after their identification, the dogs and cats shall be registered by a veterinarian in a national database referred to in Article 23. Member States may allow registration by persons other than veterinarians, provided that the Member States have measures in place to ensure the accuracy of information that those persons enter in the database. For dogs and cats kept in establishments, the registration shall be made in the name of the operator of the establishment responsible for the dog or the cat. For dogs and cats owned by any other natural and legal persons, the registration shall be made in the name of those persons.Member States may grant exemptions from the first subparagraph of this paragraph in respect of military, police and customs dogs.

4.Where dogs or cats are placed on the market or are donated in an occasional manner at irregular intervals by natural persons without using online advertising, the natural or legal person transferring the ownership of, or responsibility for, the dog or cat shall ensure that the change of ownership of, or responsibility for, the dog or cat is recorded in the database referred to in Article 23, within two weeks from the date of that transfer, in accordance with the conditions laid down by the Member State responsible for that database.

5.In the case of the death of a dog or a cat, the operator, pet owner or natural or legal person owning the dog or cat shall ensure that the death is recorded in the database referred to in Article 23, in accordance with the conditions laid down by the Member State responsible for that database.

6.Where a transponder is or becomes unreadable, the operator or the natural or legal person responsible for the dog or cat shall ensure that a new transponder is injected and that the registration in the database is updated with the identification number of that new transponder.

7.The identification and registration requirements of this Article shall apply as follows:

(a)for operators and natural or legal persons placing dogs and cats on the market: from 31 August 2030;

(b)for pet owners and other natural or legal persons other than operators, who do not place dogs on the market: from 31 August 2036;

(c)for pet owners and other natural or legal persons other than operators, who do not place cats on the market: from 31 August 2041.

Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.

Key facts

Type

Regulation · (EU) 2026/1818 · EEA relevant

Adopted

17 Jun 2026

In force

30 Aug 2026

Applies from

31 Aug 2028

Applies from

31 Aug 2029

Applies from

1 Jul 2030

Applies from

31 Aug 2030

Applies from

31 Aug 2031

Applies from

31 Aug 2033

Applies from

31 Aug 2034

Applies from

1 Jul 2036

Applies from

31 Aug 2036

Made by

Council of the European Union, European Parliament

Official

EUR-Lex 32026R1818 · ELI

Defined terms · 39

Show every defined term

advertising
means any form of communication with the public or a section thereof which has the effect, direct or indirect, of promoting a dog or cat, one or more of its physical characteristics, or a breed, in order to arouse interest, provoke engagement or attract sales;
animal carer
means a person taking care of the dogs or cats bred or kept in an establishment, including volunteers, interns and part-time workers, under the responsibility of an operator;
bitch
means a female dog from the time she is first mated or inseminated until the weaning of her final litter;
breeding
means the keeping of dogs or cats in breeding establishments for the purpose of reproduction;
breeding establishment
means any premises or structure, including households, where dogs or cats are kept for reproduction purposes with a view to placing their offspring on the market;
breeding strategy
means a set of systematic actions, including recording, selection, breeding and exchange of breeding dogs or cats and their germinal products, designed and implemented to preserve or enhance desired phenotypic or genotypic characteristics in the target breeding population;
cat
means an animal of the species Felis silvestris catus;
cattery
means a physical structure containing one or more enclosures for housing cats;
competent authorities
means competent authorities as defined in Article 3, point (3), of Regulation (EU) 2017/625;
container
means any crate, box, cage, receptacle or movable structure used to confine dogs or cats;
dog
means an animal of the species Canis lupus familiaris;
enrichments
means materials or structures, which are present in a dog’s or cat’s environment, with an occupational or nutritional property and which are capable of arousing and satisfying a dog’s or cat’s curiosity or appetitive behaviour, or of motivating it physically;
establishment
means a breeding establishment, a selling establishment, a shelter or a foster home;
euthanasia
means the act of inducing death using a method that causes a rapid and irreversible loss of consciousness with a minimum of pain and distress, ending the life of the dog or cat;
farmer
means farmer as defined in Article 3, point (1), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
foster home
means a household that keeps dogs or cats on behalf of an operator responsible for unwanted, abandoned, lost, confiscated or formerly stray dogs or cats;
herding dog
means a dog primarily kept or trained to steer, move or otherwise control livestock in agricultural or pastoral settings, including farms, grazing areas, or during transhumance;
housing
means buildings or delimited outdoor space in establishments where dogs or cats are kept whether temporarily or permanently;
hybrid
means any offspring in the first to the fourth generations after crossbreeding between a wild species and a domestic dog or cat, or between such hybrids and wild species, domestic dogs or cats, or other hybrids;
keeping
means any activity during which dogs or cats are held, housed or handled either in an establishment or under the responsibility of an operator, or both;
kennel
means a physical structure containing one or more enclosures for housing dogs;
light
means natural light, complemented, where necessary due to the climatic conditions and geographic position of a Member State, by artificial light.
livestock guardian dog
means a dog primarily kept or trained to protect livestock from predators in agricultural or pastoral settings;
mutilation
means an intervention, including a surgical intervention, carried out for reasons other than therapeutic or diagnostic purposes, except for neutering or the implanting of a transponder, that results in damage to or the loss of a sensitive part of the body, or the alteration of the bone structure, of a dog or a cat;
neutering
means the process whereby dogs or cats are surgically and irreversibly prevented from reproducing;
non-commercial movement
means non-commercial movement, as defined in Article 4, point 14, of Regulation (EU) 2016/429, where the pet concerned is a dog or a cat.
online platform
means an online platform, as defined in Article 3, point (i), of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, acting as an intermediator for the placing on the market of dogs or cats;
operator
means any natural or legal person that places dogs or cats on the market and that is responsible for a breeding establishment, selling establishment or shelter and for the dogs or cats kept there, or that places dogs or cats in a foster home and that is responsible for the dogs or cats kept there;
pet
means a dog or cat owned for private enjoyment or for the purpose of providing companionship to humans;
pet owner
means a natural or legal person that owns a dog or cat as a pet;
placing on the market
means the sale, offering for sale, distribution or any other form of transfer of ownership of, or responsibility for, dogs and cats, whether in return for payment or free of charge, as well as the advertising of dogs and cats for those purposes, excluding donations in an occasional manner at irregular intervals by natural persons other than operators without online advertising;
queen
means a female cat from the time she is first mated or inseminated until the weaning of her final litter;
Rapid Alert System
(iRASFF) means the electronic system implementing the Rapid Alert System described in Article 50 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council and the procedures for administrative assistance and cooperation between Member States described in Articles 102 to 108 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 respectively;
responsible ownership
means a set of behaviours by a dog or cat owner or future dog or cat owner consistent with a commitment to perform various duties focused on satisfying the health, behavioural, environmental and physical needs of the dog or cat, and to minimise the risks that the dog or cat could pose to the community, other animals or the environment;
selling establishment
means any premises or structure where dogs or cats are kept for sale without having been born there, including pet shops or households, as well as any premises or structure of assembly operations, where dogs or cats are brought together from more than one establishment;
shelter
means any premises or structure, including households, where unwanted, abandoned, lost, confiscated or formerly stray dogs or cats are kept for the purpose of placing on the market;
suffering
means an unpleasant, undesired physical or mental state of being which is the result of a dog or cat being exposed to noxious stimuli or the continuous absence of important positive stimuli;
tethering
means the tying of a dog or cat to an anchor point or object to keep it in a desired area or to restrict its movement;
welfare of dogs and cats
means the physical and mental state of a dog or cat which receives appropriate nutrition, is kept in an appropriate environment, is kept in good health, exhibits appropriate behaviour, and has an overall positive mental experience of life;