When placing an advertisement on a participating classified ad site, the seller will need to provide the dog’s microchip number along with their mobile phone number or email. 

The VeriPet API will then carry out an automatic check with pet registration databases to see if the details match.

A one-time code will then be sent to the registered owner of the dog and this code will need to be added to the advertisement in order for it to go live.

This means that only the person registered on the dog’s microchip will be permitted to place an advertisement to sell that particular dog. Illegal puppy dealers who do not want to be traceable to authorities, and thus do not register the dog, will not be able to verify their identity and therefore will lose access to the online marketplace.

The system was launched on a classified ad site in Ireland in August 2021 – dogs.ie. The information about the dog is checked against the data on the Irish pet registration database – FIDO. Read more about the project in Ireland.

In Switzerland, Europetnet and FOUR PAWS partner with Amicus – the largest Swiss dog registration database which holds information on more than 560,000 dogs. The participating classified ad site – Anibis – is one of the major classified ad sites in Switzerland and implements VeriPet as a national frontrunner for the system. As a first step, Anibis piloted VeriPet only on ads that are for dogs registered in Switzerland.

The dog registration verification tool 'VeriPet' is one element of the „Model Solution for full traceability across the European online puppy trade”. FOUR PAWS is calling for a coordinated response from the entities most closely related to the puppy trade and its regulation – identification and registration databases, classified ad websites, and national governments. Together they can facilitate the collation of more comprehensive data records for every dog, stricter regulation of advertising on classified sites, solid legal frameworks to enforce requirements, and comprehensive interlinking of all these elements. The FOUR PAWS Model Solution report aims to highlight the opportunities afforded by the introduction of the EU Animal Health Law and to outline how the Model Solution will work, what actions are required of the various agencies involved, and the benefits of their involvement. If implemented as FOUR PAWS proposes, the Model Solution could achieve a range of outcomes including improved animal welfare, better animal and human health, increased tax revenue, and greater consumer protection. Find more information about the Model Solution and the report here.