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LIVING IN ITALY

What you need to know about microchipping your pet in Italy

Microchipping is required for all dogs in Italy, as well as for cats and ferrets kept as pets in certain circumstances. Here's what pet owners need to know.

Here's what you need to know about microchipping your pet in Italy.
Here's what you need to know about microchipping your pet in Italy. Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP.

Under Italian law, all dogs in the country must be identified and registered on a national database.

For dogs born before 2004, a clearly legible tattoo (e.g., on the dog’s ear) is accepted in lieu of a microchip. For those born after, microchips are the only accepted form of identification.

The chip should be inserted within two months of the dog’s birth; owners who miss this deadline could incur fines amounting to several hundred euros.

READ ALSO: From barking to cleaning: The culture shocks to expect if you own a dog in Italy

The chip is small – similar in width to a grain of rice and about twice as long – and is inserted just under the skin with a needle slightly thicker than that used for injections. It might cause minor discomfort in the moment, but shouldn’t hurt.

A microchip is not a GPS tracker, so can’t be used to find missing dogs – but it does contain key information about the dog as well as the owner’s contact details, allowing lost dogs to easily be reunited with their families.

The procedure can be performed by a vet from the local health authority (Azienda Sanitaria Locale, or Asl) or an authorised independent vet. The cost varies between regions, but you’ll generally be charged around €10-25 at the Asl and €20-50 at a private practice.

Your vet will then enter your dog into the national registry with their microchip number and your tax code (codice fiscale). The registry entry will include mention of the dog’s name, gender, breed, size, age and colour, and the owner’s name, address, and telephone number.

READ ALSO: Moving to Italy with pets? Here’s what you need to know

If a dog gets a new owner, the national database should be updated within fifteen days of the transfer. Your vet will provide an ownership transfer form which should be signed by both the old and new owner and filled out with the new owner’s details.

Italy doesn’t have a blanket requirement for any pets other than dogs to be microchipped, but it’s still required in some circumstances.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Do renters in Italy have the right to keep pets?

Cats and ferrets kept as pets (as well as dogs) brought into Italy from outside the country must also be marked with a 15-digit ISO 11784/11785 compliant microchip, or with a clearly legible tattoo if it was applied before July 3rd, 2011.

If you’re resident in Italy and want to take your pet cat or ferret on holiday abroad, they’ll also need to be microchipped in order to receive a ‘pet passport’ to allow them to travel in and out of the country.

While Italy does not have national laws requiring cats to be microchipped, each region has its own rules – so you’ll want to check what the law is in your local area.

Lombardy, for example, made it obligatory on January 1st, 2020 for all cats in its territory born after that date to get chipped.

Regardless of whether it’s a legal requirement, many people opt to have their cat microchipped to make sure they stand the best chance of being reunited in case their pet wanders a little too far from home and loses their way.

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EASTER

‘No Friday off and food galore’: What to expect from your first Italian Easter

If you're spending your first Easter in Italy this year, how might it differ from your home country? The Local’s readers tell us about their first Pasqua in Italy and the things they found most surprising.

'No Friday off and food galore': What to expect from your first Italian Easter

For many Easter-celebrating people around the globe, this is a time to be with family, eat lots of chocolate, and maybe participate in a church service or two. But of course, traditions in each country are different.

After living in Italy for a while you might get used to seeing a certain dove-shaped cake (la colomba), the lack of a certain Easter figure (the Easter Bunny) and eating fish instead of meat on Good Friday.

But the first Pasqua (Easter Sunday) and Pasquetta (Easter Monday) you spend in the country will always come with its surprises.

No day off on Good Friday

Like many people who move to Italy, Robbie Sossi told us he was “absolutely astonished” to find that Good Friday was not a public holiday.

“We sent Easter cards to everyone, only to be met with quizzical looks when we next saw them. Families try to outdo each other in the chocolate Easter egg stakes too. I had a chocolate overdose headache for a week afterwards.”

One reader, Karen Short, said: “I too was surprised Good Friday wasn’t a public holiday.”

READ MORE: Why is Good Friday not a holiday in Italy

Abruzzo-based Stephanie Elms agreed and said: “Good Friday was a bit of a surprise for me because I know Europe has a few more holidays than where I’m from in the States, so I assumed it would be a holiday, but it isn’t.”

“It would have been nice to get an extra day like they have in the UK, but I’m not complaining. I get to celebrate Easter in a beautiful country and that’s enough for me.”

Freezing cold and rainy weather 

When thinking of Mediterranean weather, sunshine and warmth is normally the first thing anyone would expect. But many people arriving in Italy for the first time are caught out by the unexpected cold.

Veneto-based artist Linda Winter said that, when she first arrived in Venice 18 years ago, she had a bit of a shock.

“The air was still chilly with the damp from the lagoon as I stepped onto the platform at Santa Lucia. Never having visited before I had imagined the fashion police would stop me from entering if I was anything less than elegant.

“The reality was that all the Italians were still wearing a heavy coat and at least two scarves. I froze.”

She advised anyone coming to Italy for Easter to wear a coat and wrap up warm. 

“Early Easters are by their nature cold, even though as I write this sunshine is pouring through my open door. Now I hang onto my coat.”

Easter eggs in a workshop.Photo by Fred TANNEAU / AFP.

Food galore

Food is of course a huge part of the celebrations in Italy. As in many countries, roast lamb is usually the meat of choice for an Easter Sunday lunch – but not everyone enjoys it.

Lazio resident Zoe Joanne Green said she finds the tradition of eating lamb “brutal”, adding: “I’ll spend Easter trying to distract myself so that I don’t get annoyed.”

Valeria La Capria said torta pasqualina instead is one Italian veggie option not to be missed.

“I’m also vegetarian, there are some great traditional dishes such as the torta di pasqua, made from spinach, ricotta and filo pastry.”

The tart is typical in the Liguria region of the country and traditionally had 33 layers of pastry, one for each year Christ was on earth. 

READ MORE: Nine lesser-visited Italian villages to see over Easter

Tuscany resident Andrew Green said la colomba, a dove-shaped cake, is different from anything back home. 

“For starters it’s a lot bigger and less sweet than what we usually eat in the UK,” he said. You can find them in pretty much every supermarket you go to.

“Back home we only really have hot cross buns and Easter cakes that are full of chocolate. There aren’t really any chocolate cakes here for Easter, but there is chocolate. Anyway, I prefer colomba instead and it was a nice surprise when I first ate it.”

Different regional events

That’s not the only thing Andrew prefers either. He said he loves the different events each Italian region has to offer. 

“I stayed in Florence during my first year and there was a huge parade which was really cool. Obviously I knew nothing about it at first.”

The parade Andrew referred to is the Scoppio del Carro (Explosion of the Cart); a centuries old tradition where an old wagon is filled with fireworks and set alight outside of Florence’s Santa Maria del Fiore on Easter Sunday.

“The atmosphere of the whole city was alive and there was a huge buzz to the place. It was stunning,” Andrew adds.

Abruzzo-based Heather May also enjoys the events different regions have to offer, and said the nearby Madonna che scappa (the Virgin Mary who runs away) in a town named Sulmona was her personal favourite.

“It was nothing like I’d ever experienced before,” she writes. “It’s like a pantomime – one of the saints knocks on the door of a church at one end of the piazza, to tell the Madonna that her son is alive, she begins to march across the piazza (held aloft by holy men clad in green and white).

“After a swaying march of some minutes, she spots Christ at the other end of the piazza and the men break into a run – it’s quite a feat of athleticism! Doves are released, her black cloak drops to reveal a white dress and Handel’s hallelujah chorus plays as she encounters her son. It’s quite exhilarating even for protestants like myself.

Wherever you’ll be celebrating, Easter is bound to be special, but we hope these tips and anecdotes are useful to anyone spending their first Easter in Italy this year. Buona Pasqua.

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