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Cats in Kanagawa Prefecture can now get digital resident cards

6 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

Kanagawa Prefecture, Tokyo’s neighbor to the south, is home to 9.2 million people, just about all of whom have a form of ID. It may be a driver’s license, a student ID, or a resident card, but there’s some sort of document that says “This is who I am.”

And as of this month, Kanagawa’s cats can get ID cards too. Thanks to a partnership between the Kanagawa Prefectural government and pet-related media company Peco, you can create a Cat Resident card for your cat through Peco’s website.

In addition to your feline friend’s name and photo, the card bears the cat’s birth date and sex, plus the names of its family members (i.e. you and any other human members of your household). There are also optional lines for any special tricks or abilities the cat has, and well as his or her personal motto (in the case Fukunosuke above, those are mastery of the “Cat Punch and Cat Kick combo attack” and “Good things come to those who wait,” respectively).

Oh, and Peco also offers Dog Resident cards.

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The cards are digital only, perhaps because cats and dogs remain reluctant to carry wallets or physical card holders. However, you can store the image on your phone or PC, and while the document is not legally binding, the registration is retained by Peco, which could prove helpful if you ever need proof of an existing relationship should your cat become lost. A step above that, though, would be installing a tracking chip in your pet, a service Peco offers, since the cat and dog resident cards also allow you to register the corresponding microchip number.

Both the cat and dog digital resident cards can be made online, free of charge, here.

Source: Kanagawa Prefecture, Peco via Japaaan

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- The 11 Cat Islands of Japan 【Photos】

-- New Welcome to Kanto Pasmo IC Card is the most kawaii way to ride trains on a trip to Japan

-- Foreigner visiting Japan? Don’t forget to get your free-to-use smartphone from Kanagawa

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

6 Comments
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My cat is concerned about filing his tax return as he paw cannot grasp the pen properly.

Will he lose residency?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Cats but not foreigners?

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

@ Kurisupisu

My cat is concerned about filing his tax return as he paw cannot grasp the pen properly.

Will he lose residency?

No worries at all. See , cats are not dog-matic, neither are they burro- cratic but are supremely meow-cratic. Always cat-walking , cat-napping, kit-catting etc .

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It seems it is not a tracking chip with GPS or radio but an ID chip. These work well if vets check them, which by law they have to do in some countries. The chips are not much use if vets do not check.

A friend of mine living in London lost her cat. One day she received a phone call from a vet in Buckinghamshire. The vet told her some people had taken her cat to see him. He told those people that he could not give the cat back to them because it was not theirs. My friend got her cat back. Does this ever happen in Japan.

Of course, there has to be a standard for the ID chip so that vets can check it. Is this chip a standard chip, and I believe there is actually an international standard, or a proprietary Peco chip that requires a Peco reader?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Cats but not foreigners?

I just knew someone was going to make this comment even before I clicked on the link to this cute story.

Cats are cute and deserve all the best in life.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Laughed myself silly over this. However, chipping your pet is your responsibility as their owner. Love the photo.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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