Cancún’s New Pet Registration Rules

Councilor Julio de Jesús Méndez Paniagua has announced plans to present an initiative to the Council that will amend the Protection and Animal Welfare Regulations. The proposed changes aim to strengthen pet registration rules and enhance access to free services.

Although the current Council is nearing the end of its term, the initiative can be passed on to the next Council for review and potential approval. The proposed changes aim to reinforce the importance of registering pets, specifically dogs and cats, with the Municipal Pet Registry. The initiative also seeks to penalize pet owners who fail to register their animals but still want to take advantage of the municipality's free programs.

Councilor Paniagua emphasized that pet registration is still open and free of charge. However, due to the lack of interest from many pet owners in registering their pets, the Councilor is proposing to amend the Animal Welfare Regulation. If a pet is not registered, the owner will not be able to access services from the Department of Animal Welfare and could face penalties for not registering their pet properly and promptly.

Currently, only around 7,000 pets are registered out of an estimated 200,000 dogs and cats in the city. This is despite the fact that registration is free and citizens were given a year to register their pets without penalties.

Councilor Paniagua suggested that the lack of registrations could be due to misinformation and distrust spread via social media, which portrayed the registry as a revenue-generating or tax-related program. However, he clarified that the registry's purpose is to maintain an accurate record of the number of pets in the city. This information is crucial for budgeting and planning programs such as rabies vaccine purchases and the number of sterilizations needed, among other services provided by the Department of Animal Welfare.