Microchips
What is Microchipping?
The microchip is a small device about the size of a grain of rice. Each microchip contains a unique number which links to the owner’s details and which is stored on a national database. The microchip is inserted under the skin in the shoulder area of the pet during a quick and simple painless procedure much like an injection. To read the microchip number a scanner is simple passed over the area where the chip was inserted. There are no negative side effects of having your pet chipped.
Compulsory Microchipping of Dogs
All dogs over eight weeks old in Scotland must be microchipped under the Microchipping of Dogs (Scotland) Regulations 2016.
This came into force on 6 April 2016. This includes dogs being implanted with a microchip and having their details registered on a
compliant database. The current keeper is the person responsible for ensuring that dogs are microchipped.
You can be fined up to £500 if your dog is not microchipped or registered on a compliant database.
These regulations set out the legal requirements for dog keepers relating to microchipping of dogs, and put in place a supporting framework of rules for microchip implanters and database operators.
The main effects of the regulations are to:
- Require mandatory microchipping of all dogs in Scotland and the recording of information about every dog and its keeper
on a database complying with a specified set of conditions
- Set a technical standard for the type of microchip that must be used for the purposes of microchipping a dog under these Regulations
- Set out rules about who may implant a microchip of any kind in a dog in Scotland
We ensure that all of the dogs that are adopted through us will be chipped and we will also be responsible for changing and updating the chip details when an adoption takes place.
