‘Sisbicho’, a Digital Platform That Registers Animals, Launched by Rio’s City Hall

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Monday, September 16th, in Rio de Janeiro, Sisbicho was launched. It is a digital platform that creates the General Registry of Animals (RGA) for the free online registration of dogs, cats, and other domestic animals carrying microchips, which will be provided with an official identification card with photo.

Data such as name, race, date of birth and chip number, which facilitates the boarding of pets on flights and helps in locating missing or even stolen animals, can be found in the new system accessed through City Hall or Sisbicho’s portals. Among other advantages, the municipality can measure the number of animals in each region, thus better defining public health measures, such as the anti-rabies vaccination campaign.

Sisbicho enables the registration of data to be performed by professionals from veterinary clinics and offices, pet shops, bath and grooming, pet hotels, kennels, shelters and protection associations. To do so, these establishments need to be accredited by SUBVISA and in compliance with the sanitary licensing regulations.

Technical support units of the Undersecretary of Animal Welfare (SUBEM) may also access the Sisbicho, which allows for information exchanges in the case of adoption, sale or change of owner or guardian and even death. The information can only be viewed by registrants and professionals from the City government. However, the owner may choose not to disclose any of the data, and only the e-mail provided during the registration will be displayed.

In order to have access to Sisbicho, clinics, offices, kennels, protection associations, and other pets establishments must be accredited in person at the Zoonoses Surveillance Coordination (SUBVISA) at Rua do Lavradio, 180, 4º andar, in Lapa, the headquarters of the new system’s managing body.

The first of the 92 municipalities in Rio de Janeiro state to implement the RGA, Rio de Janeiro City is among ten Brazilian capital cities to provide this service. The others are Belo Horizonte, São Paulo, Goiânia, Salvador, Belém, Manaus, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, and João Pessoa, but only two, other than Rio, work with microchips. Registration in the RGA is free for neutered dogs and cats or those under treatment of sporotrichosis in the municipal units. For the other cases, the chip application has a cost of R$25,00. The accredited establishments can set the price for the procedures.