A Russian government decree requiring owners of chickens, camels, reindeer and the like to register their animals took effect on Tuesday, triggering a wave of public mockery and a minor administrative crisis as Russians began turning up at government service centres with live birds.
Videos on social media showed people with chickens in tow waiting in queues, taking numbered tickets and lining up at counters. Some residents dressed their birds up before bringing them in.
Bloggers and social media users quickly compared it to the satirical fiction of Gogol, a writer who specialised in skewering the absurdities of Russian bureaucracy.
One widely shared video on Russian social media showed a chicken owner asking: “And if a chicken dies, should we call the police to investigate? What if it’s aggravated murder?”
“I’m just imagining a fox or a weasel walking in… The police will be overwhelmed, and then the police will be running around with sketches of the chickens,” the video said.
Social media users also asked ironically whether chickens would need death certificates and what maternity payments would be due for each new chick, a reference to Russia’s state funding for births.
The so-called multifunctional centres — local one-stop-shop offices offering services such as issuing passports or registering property — in Kabardino-Balkaria were the first to break: on Wednesday morning they announced they no longer handled animal registration and told chicken owners to contact the regional veterinary authority instead.
Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance subsequently clarified that owners do not need to bring their animals anywhere.
Instead a veterinary officer will visit the premises, count the animals and assign them an identification number.
What in the bird is going on?
Under the decree, farmers with more than 10 domestic birds — including chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, guinea fowl, quails and ostriches — must register them from 1 September this year. Smaller holdings have until 1 September 2029.
All camels and reindeer must also be registered with immediate effect. Once registered, animals are entered into the federal Horriot database, with details including species, breed, colour, sex, purpose and owner. Enclosures must be labelled.
For domestic birds, the identification number is assigned to the flock as a whole rather than to each bird individually.
Failure to comply carries fines of up to 1,000 roubles (€10) for private individuals and up to 20,000 roubles (€200) for commercial organisations, which also risk a 60-day suspension of operations.
Russian authorities said the register was designed to help track and control outbreaks of infectious animal diseases and to verify the origin of agricultural produce entering the food supply chain.
The decree’s practical implications had not been clearly communicated before it took effect, which contributed to the confusion.