30 per cent of Scots struggle to obey dog laws

A new microchipping law has highlighted how Scottish people are struggling to keep up with new legislation.

By EMMA O’NEILL Monday, 28th December 2015, 11:18 am

Dogs will have to be microchipped by law from April 6, 2016 - yet one third of dog owners in Scotland are still unprepared for the change.

New research from Dogs Trust has shown that 32 per cent of owners still don’t have their dogs microchipped.

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Dog owners will soon have to ensure that their pets are chipped and keep the registered address details up to date.

Clive Tagg. 2009

Owners who do not microchip their dogs within 21 days of being served notice will be liable to pay a fine of up to £500.

However, Scotland is still ten per cent lower than the national average with 45 per cent of UK residents not having their pet microchipped - mostly because they were unaware they had to, the survey of 3,000 people revealed.

The microchip is around the size of a grain of rice, which is implanted under the dog’s skin and contains a unique number that can be read by a scanner.

The dog owner’s contact details relating to each number are logged on a central database, so should the dog ever go missing or be stolen it can be scanned by the authorities and returned to his owner swiftly and safely.

Adrian Burder, CEO of Dogs Trust says, “As our research shows, it can be hard to keep track of new and upcoming laws with nearly a fifth of people in Scotland admitting that they find it confusing. Fortunately, there are a number of ways for the public to find out all the information they need on microchipping and updating a dog’s chip details has never been easier; you can do it online, by telephone or by post.

“Losing a dog is an extremely upsetting time for both dog and dog owner so we welcome the new legislation due to come into effect in April. In 2015 alone Dogs Trust has microchipped over 185,000 dogs for free across our network of Rehoming Centres and we’re still working tirelessly to ensure even more dogs are given these painless but essential pieces of technology before April.”