2024年4月22日、ボツワナの首都ハボローネで、犬の登録を義務づける条例の施行から数年が経ったが、登録した飼い主は市内で5人にとどまっている。April 22, 2024 — In Gaborone, Botswana, years after a bylaw made dog registration compulsory, only five owners in the entire city have registered.

In Gaborone, Botswana's capital, only five dog owners have registered their animals under a bylaw that has been in effect since November 2018, according to Gaborone City Council bylaw superintendent Mateke Twaimango.

The bylaw requires every dog aged three months or older to carry a metal tag issued by the council and to be fitted with a microchip implanted by a licensed veterinary surgeon. There are four licence categories: an ordinary dog licence at P50, a breeding dog licence at P1,000, a guard dog licence at P600, and a special purpose dog licence at P100. Aside from the five registrations under the ordinary category, no registrations have been recorded in any other.

The council has purchased microchips and trained staff on the technology. Twaimango said owning an unregistered dog is a crime: first-time offenders face a P1,000 fine, three months in prison, or both, while repeat offenders face a P2,000 fine and six months in prison, along with possible impoundment of the dog and a two-year ban on keeping dogs.

Twaimango said that since the bylaw took effect in 2018, public awareness campaigns have not been carried out, partly because the COVID-19 pandemic prompted advice for residents to stay home. The bylaw replaced an earlier one from 1968 that charged a flat P6 per dog licence.