Island horses to be monitored by chips

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

The new project will increase the quality of the coach service on the island.

Istanbul Parking Operations (İSPARK) plans to implant identification microchips in Büyükada Island’s horses in order to monitor how they are taken care of during the winter and their overall health condition.
 
İSPARK’s social responsibility project will track the health of horses used for touristic and transportation purposes on Istanbul’s Büyükada Island, where no automobiles are permitted, by implanting tiny microchips under the horses’ skins. The microchips will be implanted by veterinary surgeons and will contain information including the sex, age, health condition and the owner information for each horse. The information will be kept in a database called “VETISTANBUL.”

The microchipping program will help officials determine the number of horses on the island. The chips will also track the horses’ working conditions and monitor how many hours they work each day, so that these factors can be better controlled. The project seeks to determine what kind of conditions the horses are living in, and their quality, while also addressing the issue of bacterial infections that are seen in horses and can also become a threat for humans.

İSPARK will continue to provide coach horse service on the island. The new project will increase the quality of the coach service on the island, while taking better care of the horses. A new staff will be employed on the island to maintain the new higher standards of service, and they will use electric vehicles. According to a written statement from İSPARK General Manager Mehmet Çevik, the work to improve conditions and service on Büyükada is ongoing.

“We will begin microchipping the horses as soon as possible to raise social awareness of the importance of human and animal health. The health condition of the horses on the island will improve as their living conditions improve,” Çelik said.