Cat owners had been given two years - from Sept 1, 2024 - to microchip and license their pets under this framework.

Some pet owners lamented online about the long wait time on Aug 31 on the Animal and Veterinary Service’s (AVS) licence application portal as the clock ticked closer to 12am.

In a media reply, AVS’ group director Anna Wong said AVS had put in place a virtual queue system from 8pm on Aug 31 to manage traffic on the platform, “in anticipation of a surge in licensing applications during the last phase of the transition period”.

“At its peak, there were close to 3,000 applicants in the virtual waiting room at around 11pm,” she added.

“To allow all cat owners who joined the virtual queue to complete licensing their pet cats, AVS extended the timeline from midnight until 3am, Sept 1.”

To cater for the deadline extension, there was a system refresh from 12am to 12.30am on Sept 1, according to Wong.

In a Reddit post, a cat owner had posted a screenshot of a virtual waiting room which showed that expected time to enter the licensing portal as more than an hour. It also showed that there were 2,940 people ahead of the owner.

The owner said: “Seeing this and I have 15 minutes before 12 midnight.”

The post has since garnered close to 400 upvotes ...