Sad world we live in

"More than 5,000 dogs have been reported stolen to police forces in England and Wales since the start of 2013, a BBC investigation has found. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show a 22.3% rise in reports in two years. Gareth Johnson, a Conservative MP in Kent, has called for a specific crime of pet theft to be introduced. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said courts were told to account for emotional distress."

Article Here

Can't see vets being the solution, puts them in a very vulnerable position scanning a stolen dog.

Maybe spot checks in parks with wardens scanning chips, can't see it happening though.

Given all the hype over chipping but there being no policing as such. I think they need to think very carefully about how this could be prevented. Dog wardens ar ebeing cut and have never heard of anyone being stopped. vets are in a very difficult position and actually have no ability to police this .

spot checks in parks with wardens scanning chips

Won't happen here,Suffolk has 7 district/borough councils I'm fairly certain NONE have such a thing as a dog warden !

Funny this list shows Suffolk with 7 contact numbers.

http://www.animalwardens.co.uk/lost-found-dogs-search/all-dog-warden-phone-numbers

I know but it is somewhat out of date - like at least a couple of years old!!!
St Eds lost its warden about 5/6 yrs ago as did Forest Heath and most of the others have done since then.
Watching a prog the other week about animal enforcement, one bit was a London borough, I think Newham, which had SEVEN wardens

Given all the hype over chipping but there being no policing as such

Its a good point but policing would be very difficult, unless they nicked somebody for something else & a scan showed the dog was stolen, that is if cop stations held a scanner.
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thing is even if they made it mandatory to scan dogs currently in the eyes of the law a microchip is still not proof of ownership.

If they can't manage to look for tags, which are visible to the naked eye with no special equipment, then they won't police microchips.  The whole thing is a farce.  I'm all for dogs being chipped when they can be (medical reasons excepted) - it can only be a good thing to my mind but, it requires a hell of a lot more in the way of legislation than has been provided.  No policing, no structure in place for reporting people who haven't chipped, no proof of ownership as you say Jo.  It's laughable.