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The pet database Anis wants to grant access to the police and community employees again from April 1st.
At the beginning of February 2022, the Anis pet database removed access to the contact details of registered pet owners for municipalities, cantons and the police for “data protection reasons”.
Over 600,000 microchipped cats and a few other pets such as rabbits, parrots, guinea pigs and turtles are registered with Anis. The purpose of this database is so that the police can inform owners as soon as possible if their pet is found injured or dead.
We were approached by the police, but there were also many critical reactions on social media
Much criticism from the police and customers
The police and animal owners were taken by surprise by the database operator’s decision. According to the report by the SRF consumer magazine “Espresso”, Anis went over the books again. “We were approached by the police, but there were also many critical reactions on social media,” admits managing director Christian Beglinger. Everything should be better now.
Again (almost) everything the same
It is true that not all administrative employees still have access to the contact details of pet owners. But the relevant ones do: “Police, game wardens, path masters, cadaver collection points or other people who are involved in finding missing pets,” says Christian Beglinger.
From April 1st, the authorities can call up the contact details of pet owners again and inform them immediately in an emergency. “Contact data means: address, at least one telephone number and possibly an e-mail address,” says Beglinger.
Fortunately, animal welfare won against data protection here.
The fact that Anis is now reversing the controversial data protection decision should please the many pet owners who contacted “Espresso” after the report in February. Your criticism: For once, data protection makes no sense here.
Hanspeter Krüsi, media spokesman for the St. Gallen canton police, is also pleased with the decision: “We think it’s great that we can make this service available to citizens again. Pets are a very emotional topic. Fortunately, animal welfare won against data protection here.”