Dog owners face microchip costs

11:44am Saturday 21st April 2012 in Leisure © Press Association and news reporter

Dog owners face microchip costs Dog owners face microchip costs

MILLIONS of dog owners will have to pay for their pets to be fitted with a microchip, under plans set to be announced next week.

Ministers are expected to say that every newborn puppy should be fitted with a device giving details of who they belong to.

The information will reportedly be stored on a central database which can be accessed by police and the RSPCA.

The Government believes the proposals will make it easier to trace and prosecute owners of violent dogs.

But there are concerns that such individuals will not obey the law, while responsible people will be hit with extra costs.

Charities have broadly welcomed the rules, suggesting they could also help reunite lost dogs with owners.

But Neil Parish MP, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Animal Welfare, told the Daily Mail: "If we're not careful we're going to make things more difficult for legitimate dog owners, and not solve the real problem of dangerous dogs.

"We have got to find the dogs who are being bred illegally by people who mix breeds to create potentially vicious dogs.

"It's not so much the dogs that should be targeted, but the owners who train them to be vicious that must be targeted."

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Comments(12)

mouthalmighty says...
3:13pm Sat 21 Apr 12

Well, it not a perfect idea, but it's a start. What else can be done? Not easy.

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lindarose says...
9:05pm Sat 21 Apr 12

great idea but how will they police it . our dog is chipped. now a rule to keep dogs on leads in parks .

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goldenbroomboy says...
10:47am Sun 22 Apr 12

Cheap points for plods by criminalising law abiding people.

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It's Me again ! says...
3:07pm Sun 22 Apr 12

This is great news and a step in the right direction.
I think maybe we need to also go back to the old fashioned way of having a dog license too

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Slonik says...
3:52pm Sun 22 Apr 12

Unless the punishments for non compliance are severe (which they won't be in practice because our prisons are full) this measure will make very little difference. Our roads are full of uninsured drivers for the for the same reason.

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Local lady says...
12:47am Mon 23 Apr 12

Why should the RSPCA have access to our personal details? They are a charity not the police. Their involvement will stop many people agreeing to micro chip their dogs. Better that the Kennel Club is involved with this and runs the data base as they already have most dog details on file as wll as an acrtive companion dog register. It would save a lot of government money that could be better spent on the elderly in the UK

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the wall says...
9:33am Mon 23 Apr 12

So a microchip will stop a badly trained dog / badly trained kid from attacking/ getting attacked........ No don't think so.

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j.j. says...
4:46pm Mon 23 Apr 12

A nice idea but it won't have much impact, I'm afraid. People who don't care about getting an education, insurance, residency permit etc. are not going to do bother about getting their dog chipped.

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PaulErith says...
1:31pm Fri 27 Apr 12

Slonik wrote:
Unless the punishments for non compliance are severe (which they won't be in practice because our prisons are full) this measure will make very little difference. Our roads are full of uninsured drivers for the for the same reason.
You're right about the prisons. Maybe the punishment should be that the dog is destroyed.

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Witchkid says...
7:10am Sat 28 Apr 12

PaulErith wrote:
Slonik wrote:
Unless the punishments for non compliance are severe (which they won't be in practice because our prisons are full) this measure will make very little difference. Our roads are full of uninsured drivers for the for the same reason.
You're right about the prisons. Maybe the punishment should be that the dog is destroyed.
Destroying a dog is not going to punish this kind of owner. The sort of people who ill-treat their dogs to make them vicious, or use them for fighting, don't give a **** about the dog, so they'll just get another one! If prison is not an option, then a lengthy community service order, perhaps clearing up dog mess, although personally I'd prefer to publicly flog the scumbags....

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Witchkid says...
7:59am Sat 28 Apr 12

I really don't see why puppies should not be chipped. There are some nasty people round here who are targeting pedigree dogs. They engage the owner in conversation about the dog, then follow him/her back to their house. In a very short time, the dog is stolen, especially if it happens to be an unspayed ****. The thieves then breed the dogs and sell the puppies. This happened to one of my neighbours. Fortunately, the dog escaped and was found by someone who took her to my local vet. They scanned her and got the owner's details from her microchip, so she was reunited with her owner. Any responsible dog owner would have no problem with having their dog chipped. However, the people who use dogs as weapons are not going to have their dogs chipped, regardless of what the law says.

Neil Parish MP has a very good point when he states "It's not so much the dogs that should be targeted, but the owners who train them to be vicious that must be targeted."

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Witchkid says...
8:02am Sat 28 Apr 12

I see NS have decided that referring to a female dog by its proper title is rude, so the word b**ch has to be edited out! LOL!

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