Every foreigner who has come to Poland for temporary or permanent residence is familiar with the PESEL number. This number is assigned to every resident of Poland, as well as to foreigners who have come for a long period of time. It will be needed almost everywhere: employment, opening a bank account, registration of insurance, receiving social benefits and many other things, as we have described in our article.
What then is a PiESEL number? We'll detail in this article what a PiESEL number is, what it's for and when the requirement to have this number will come into effect. Enjoy reading this article!
What is a PiESEL number?
PiESEL is such an equivalent to a PESEL number. The difference is that it is a digital identification for animals. Activists promote the chipping of pets for their safety and suggest that this makes it easier to obtain information about the animals themselves and their owners. Assigning a PiESEL number to animals aims to simplify their identification and control. Currently in Poland there is no obligation to chip four-legged animals. Activists who are campaigning under the slogan «Give your pet identification» are trying to change this situation. Registering dogs and cats in a nationwide electronic database is the main goal of the campaign.
The association emphasizes that the initiative is aimed at helping pet owners, shelters, veterinarians, as well as local authorities, law enforcement agencies and courts. The initiators of PiESEL pet identification numbers add that the introduction of mandatory chipping will contribute to the fight against homelessness. Introducing the change will increase control over owners of four-legged animals (e.g., checking vaccination compliance), facilitating investigations and imposing fines. According to the association, it will also have a preventive effect against animal abuse.
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What is the main point of the PiESEL number for animals?
As soon as information about the introduction of this new document for animals appeared online, the society was immediately divided into two parts: for and against. The activists who initiated the creation of the pet identification system in Poland stated the strengths and advantages of the project:
→ investigative assistance;
→ increase in the number of convictions for animal offenses and preventive activities;
→ protection against animal homelessness and neglect;
→ reduce the financial responsibility of municipalities arising from the duty of care for stray animals;
→ detecting and combating pseudo-breeding and illegal breeding of animals;
→ increase monitoring of owners to ensure, inter alia, compliance with vaccination obligations;
→ ability to quickly find a lost or stolen animal.
The aim of implementing PiESEL in Poland is that the system should be as open as possible and contain not only the owner's data, but also additional data such as the animal's vaccination information. This ensures that if, for example, a stray animal is caught on its own, information about it can be quickly and directly verified.
When to expect the implementation of the mandatory PiESEL number?
Like the European Commission, the Polish Parliamentary Group for Animal Rights wants the law regulating the PiESEL system to enter into force by the middle of this year at the latest, with a long transition period. This way, local authorities can already start implementing the system, but consolidation and «getting used to» the new obligation in Poland may take longer. As some politicians in Poland say, the realistic timeframe for mandatory implementation of such a pet ID number may take 2 years.
