Check your Chips!

nicky733
May 20
4 min read

Updated: May 27

“Chipped but unregistered’,

How often do we see ‘found dog’ posts where it says this? According to Petdatabase, 63% of stray dogs, which means any dog picked up without the owner within sight, have either no microchip, an unregistered chip, or one with outdated details. Yet this is ILLEGAL, and can attarct a fine of £500.

When our Milo went missing, I realised his microchip carried our old address. It was tricky and stressful trying to contact the Identibase over Christmas. Eventually I found a lovely helpful person via Facebook messenger who sorted it all out for me. Sadly even the offical databses can be terrible at communicating. Try ALL the company’s forms of communication; several seem not to monitor emails or social media. I could only get Identibase by Facebook messenger.)

So – CHECK YOUR CHIPS!

We all know that microchipping our dogs is a legal requirement, as of 2016. But did you know that vets and breeders aren’t legally obliged to register those chips they implant or have implanted- it's up to YOU. If breeder hasn't had a puppy chipped, be suspicious; it's ILLEGAL, and if they're not complying there may be a good reason not to buy the dog. A lot of them do register, but it’s too easy for owners to find themselves with a missing dog and no knowledge of where the chip is registered. The bigger issue is incorrect details. We move house, we change our phone, and forget to update our details on the database.

HAVING THE CORRECT DETAILS ON FILE IS THE LAW !

HOW MICROCHIPS WORK

They merely carry a 15 digit number which is then allocated, usually by you, maybe your vet, to a database. You can change databases. The database has the info you provide when you register the chip. When vets check your dog's chip, they check the chip is working, and should keep the number on your dog's record. They do not usually check that the name, address and/or phone number are correct - it is up to you to update things if you get a new dog or change your details. Also let them know if a dog goes missing, so they can be alert; your vet may do this for you. When MIio was missing, all the vets in the area knew about him via Identibase.

LET'S CHECK OUR CHIPS!

It’s easy. Pop into your vet and get them to scan and give you the microchip number. Ask where the chip is registered, or check online. Use www.check-a-chip.co.uk

· If they ARE registered, go to the website, create an account and make sure your dog’s details are up to date. There may be a small one-off charge, or a premium annual service offered, but chips do not expire.

· If NOT registered, then get it done. It’s a minefield. When I did this, I initially found I had paid a scam website. Only a small charge, but my dog’s chip remained useless! On Google these scammers look very plausible. ONLY use ones on the government/DEFRA official list.

· Visit https://www.gov.uk/get-your-dog-cat-microchipped for a list of legitimate databases.

· For ease, www.petdatabase.com They’re partnered with DogLost UK, and are reputable. They do make a minimum charge of £15 to help with costs, as many such companies do, but it’s a small charge for peace of mind, we think. I’ve just registered my dogs with them rather than deal with different companies. They (eventually) emailed the original databases to check that the dogs are mine and to get them archived them from those registers. Those databses haven't yet responded; more proof of poor communication generally in this field, but my dogs' details are safe.

· Ask your vet whether they always scan new dogs in the practice to check their ownership. They don’t have to by law, sadly, but I’ve asked quite a number and they all said they do.

Dogs coming into the UK from overseas need their chips checked and registered with a UK database. A small number may be noncompliant, but a vet can check that chip for you.

DOUBLE-CHIPPED?

My Quizzy has two microchips. This can happen with a foreign rescue, and she’s from Ireland. They both scan, which is odd, I don’t know what happened. This can cause problems, clearly. For ease, I moved both dogs' details to PetDatabase recently, and as there was no facility to add two chips to one account, they advised me to set up two accounts for Quizzy, one for each chip. So, if either one is scanned, it will come up.

THE FRAUDS

And of course, heartless scammers working in this area too. When it happened to us it wasn’t the £15 I wasted that worried me, but the fact my dog was NOT SAFE should he get lost.

Again, make sure your dogs’ chip is registered to one of the government/DEFRA listed companies. You CAN change databases.

Once you’ve got it all sorted, consider making a ‘Digital Pawprint’ for your dog. It's simply an accessible record of all the key details, including microchip.

MICROCHIPS DO NOT GO OUT OF DATE!

There have been press reports of scam emails prompting for microchip registrations to be renewed.

Recent emails sent are being sent by a fraudulent database. It does register chips, but is not UK compliant, and any chip registered with them will show up on being checked as unregistered - ie, if your dog goes missing, is found, and scanned for your details, they won't be on it.

If there's one lot of evil people doing this; there will be more.

If you get one of these emails, please check that your chips are registered with a UK compliant database. The fraudsters can only have got your email because you are registered with them, or if there has been a data breach. Again, see the government list.

Campaigners have tried to shut such databases down, but if they’re not UK based, Trading Standards can't act against them. In one case the Google sponsored ads were stopped, but that’s tricky. Fraudulent chip registries will often appear high on the Google search results; this can be paid for via Google sponsored ads. They will look like legitimate names, such as: ukpetchipregistry, petchipregistry-ukinfo, globalpetchipregistry (a clear red flag; there is no global databse)