Digitalisation for dogs: Hamburg launches platform for pet owners

Local authorities explained that this is one of the first end-to-end digital municipal services in the city

On Friday, local authorities in Hamburg, Germany, announced the launch of a digital dog service for the city. Previously, owners had to spend hours filling out paperwork for their pets to register them with the municipality, now they can do all that online thanks to the digital transformation of public services.

Dog owners are legally obliged to register with the city

According to an official statement by the city, currently, there are 100,000 dogs registered in Hamburg, while every year, authorities receive an additional 9,000 applications. Now, all administrative work and applications will be available online.

This includes registering dogs, their addresses, personal and medical data, and changes of owners. Additionally, people will also have the chance to apply for certain permits for their dogs, such as a leash exemption. Payments for these services will also be available online and with immediate effect.

After people register and submit their data, the service will check for inconsistencies and missing information to save time for the administration. At the same time, the online dog register will also be independent from other digital services of the municipality, meaning that it could be expanded to fit more features in the future.

Digital end-to-end service

Man’s best friend has always been around to give us a nudge in the right direction and this is the case with the dog register. According to an official statement, Hamburg’s Chief Digital Officer, Christian Pfromm, explained that this is one of the city’s first complete end-to-end digital services.

End-to-end in this case means that the whole action chain that previously involved people meeting in person with representatives of the administration and handing physical copies of documents or paying with cash has now gone 100% online.

Pfromm also pointed to the fact that the digital dog register will be a massive timesaver, both for authorities and for citizens, who will, in turn, have more time for their four-legged friends.