Moscow Launches Online Vet Appointments for Pets, Exotic Animals

New Delhi, May 28, 2019: Residents of the Russian capital are now able to book appointments in public veterinary clinics for their pets via the Internet, using a dedicated section of the portal of the Government of Moscow.

Pet owners can choose any one of the 27 public clinics, stipulating the precise time of the appointment and the particular specialist they wish to see. Once an appointment has been successfully booked, they receive the clinic’s address and the appointment time.

New online services also enable Moscow citizens to call a vet to their home to provide first aid to their family pets. Online vet appointments are available not only for owners of cats and dogs, but also for exotic animals lovers, for example, owners of snakes or hedgehogs.

In Moscow, in addition to making appointments for treatment, pet owners can also use the government portal to select additional services, such as vaccination, grooming, chipping or pet hospital bookings.

The online service was developed jointly by Moscow’s Veterinary Committee and the Department of Information Technologies.

Online vet appointment is a new service in Moscow. Its citizens have been able to make online appointments with doctors since 2014. Waiting times for appointments with general practitioners have fallen to just one day, while 80% of citizens can get same-day appointments, spending an average of just 10 minutes waiting outside the doctor’s office.

According to the Levada Analytical Center, fifty-nine percent of Russian households, or about 82 million people own a pet. There are more cats than dogs in Russia, with forty-three percent own a cat. Moreover, two percent of Russian households own turtles, cavies and lizards. One per cent of Russian households or about 1.4 million people own exotic animals such as snakes, crocodiles and predators as pets at home. In 2018 hedgehog owners in Russia announced launching of their separate association, as number of hedgehogs had increased several dozen times.

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