Just watched bbc news about possible compulsory micro chipping. Is it just me but the meet the public and dogowners bit was going well unitl they met a young man with his two dogs who he introduced to the interviewer as a blue nosed and something else nosed pitbulls !. Now why chose to interview someone with a banned breed ?
Next shot in studio, which picture did they use as background ? that of the two pit bulls !
I do wish the media would think it through

I saw this too.  One was a 'blue nosed' pit bull and the other a 'black nosed'!  Useless BBC reporter never even mentioned that pitbulls are a banned breed and should be muzzled in public which neither of these two were.  Then back to the studio where Bill and Sian were interviewing Janet Ellis (ex Blue Peter presenter)and Robin Page who presented One Man and his Dog.  Robin made some pertinent points about the cost of chipping to someone with a number of dogs and also pointing out that those who break the law now (eg keeping banned breeds) will just continue to break the law.  Then, over to Janet Ellis who spoke to the interviewers and the audience as if she was still presenting Blue Peter. Totally missed opportunity to discuss the subject.   

Yep that was it together with the big picture behind them of the self confessed pitbull as you say unmuzzled !
Exact point of thpose who are breaking the law will continue to do so.
£35.00 seemed a bit expensive last tme I paid £20.00 from my vet.If we go woth the comulosory microchipping in the case of farmers or those having larger numbers of dogs maybe thinking outside the box. ie one person takes the microchipping course paid for by the interested group and the mico chip at cost price. Dog training clubs could offer similar services

mind it still worries me if we cant sort out ownership of banned breeds when their owners are prepared to appear on tv with them what chance policing micro chipping ?

who will police the microchipping ?

and will you get people just stopping in their cars/vans and produce a scanner
and say i need to check your dogs microchips

i am not against microchipping all of mine are done but the people that do not break the
law will comply with the law and those that don't give a monkeys will carry on doing what
they already do now, breed for money and breed banned breeds so nothing will change.

Just a thought how was the old dog licence policed. ?

I have no idea. My dogs always had one, but the only time it was needed was for going into kennels.

As far as I can remember it wasn't.
How would micro chipping stop dog attacks. Mine are done never found any problems having a litter done.
Would rather see something done about phoney breeds that keep popping up

Nothing but a compete blanket law insisting on every dog out in public wearing a muzzel would stop dog attacks....and many of the high profile attacks have happened on private property so it would not stop those.
As many of you will know I am not a lover of the so called pitt breeds/crosses. I think they have very little place in todays society. However there are lots of good owners with nice pitt breeds... so no offence to those who have got it right.
The problem is not one particular breed but more the lack of knowledge and stupidity of a lot of the owners. Any Tom Dick or Harry in this country can breed a litter..buy a dog...microchipping will not stop them.

A Log book for every dog with details of breeders & owners and a need to transferr ownership of each and every dog every time it changes hands. A compulsary neutering program for all bitches unless registered as breeding bitches and a very closley monitored registration for all litters bred. No sales of dogs/pups from unregistered breeders, No selling via a third party, No advertising in local rags, all pups to be sold direct from the breeder, preferably through the dog clubs. Proper trained dog savey officers to monitor misuse of breeding practices. All dogs to carry not only a perminent identification as in a tattoo or microchip but also a tag easily readable. Every breeding animal to have been accepted by it's national breed club as fit for function/breeding. A law making it illegal to breed a litter without the breeder being registered with the local council/dog warden. These things may help to stop some of the problems..but it is a very ridgid protocol. I would not like to see anything this draconion happen but one day...it may! ALL DOGS MUZZLED IN PUBLIC...We are treading a very slippery slope and the stupid idiotic macho/money grabbing BYB are pushing us down it very fast..one day it may come to us all.
Aileen

Missed the tv news,but when I did the chipping course about five years ago,the vet doing it then said that it would be EU law within a few years,and most european countries had it already.I buy chips in small quantites,and even paying extra for the "I am microchipped"discs which used to be included free,they still cost less than £10.00 each.Our local dog wardens will even make house calls to chip for £20.00.I guess the vets who buy in bigger quantites and presumably get them cheaper,charge a lot for their time.The dog licence was 7/6d for one dog and they issued block licensed for kennels and breeders They were sold at the post office,and you were unlikely to be asked to show one unless there was a problem with the dog,The last time I went to buy  mine was about 1985,and I was told no one bothers any more,and the cost of issue was more than the 35p charge,but I do not recall it ever being announced that it was officially scrapped.Personally I would be willing to pay the local council a registration fee in exchange for a high viz collar,if they used the revenue for dog wardens and poop scoopers.Micro chips will not make all dog owners behave responsibly.My dogs are chipped ofcourse,so I did not know until recently that the kennel club now only register puppies from chipped dams,when did that happen?

> Just a thought how was the old dog licence policed. ?

badly, hardly anyone bothered and it was scrapped as the admin was more than the revenue generated.

It was only 37p

> so I did not know until recently that the kennel club now only register puppies from chipped dams,when did that happen?

It hasn't.

They do require breeding stock to be positively identified when undergoing Health screening tests and it is a requirement for breeders on the Kennel Club Accredited breeder scheme, neither are usually pre-requisites for KC registration.

The method of ID is up to the owner though DNA, Tattoo or chip, my prefered method is the tattoo.

My point with the dog licence was if that wasnt any real use because it wasnt followed up we would need to do far better with micro chipping.
I quess when it first started the 7s 6d (371/2) was probably more than it cost to produce lol

Although I'm against it I have all my Spanish chipped.  I just think as usual th ones that it will be aimed at will be the ones who won't do it and will stick their fingers up at the law as always!

Thanks for putting me right about the KC and registering pups from non chipped dam.I was asked to chip a nursing dam so her pups could be registered,and did not link that to the accredited status of the breeder.There will always be irresponsible owners who will not comply with any new legislation about enforced id,and it would be too costly to police,unless visual ear tags like livestock were used,heaven forbid!!.Atleast we do not have packs of semi ferral dogs roaming the estates like we did years ago.Our vet now quotes for neutering when vaccinating pups,and strongly recommends it for all non breeding pets.,but it is too expensive for some,and non profit making clinics would be a good idea,and more dog wardens with more powers to confiscate problem dogs would surely help.Maybe we could have a dog ownership licence scheme a bit like a driving licence for which a questionaire would be completed and rules imposed

> Just a thought how was the old dog licence policed. ?

I was the only person I knew that actually had dog licenses.  Everyone that I knew with just one dog, thought I was a mug renewing every year for all my lot.

In all the years that I bought the licenses, nobody ever asked if my dogs were licensed.

Interesting I wonder if complusory micro chipping could go the same way unless its properly thought out.
Btw I will add my fil to the list of honest people who always bought his dog licence

> did not link that to the accredited status of the breeder.

but Accredited breeders do not have to have theri breeding stock chipped, a tattoo or DNA profile are equally acceptable.

Well having just read a letter in this weeks Dog World I am disgusted. What is the point of microchipping when things like the following can happen. A Labrador rescue down south had a call from the local Council asking could they help in rehoming a young Labrador that had been with them the statuatory 7 days. Labrador rescue were happy to help and took her off to their local Vet for vaccination. The Vet scanned her and yes, you guessed it she was microchipped! The family had reported her missing a week earlier and had been out looking for her. The Council had not even bothered to scan her to check. She could have been back with her worried family in hours instead of the trauma and worry that they had been going through. The Labrador rescue have contacted the council but so far have not had a reply. One of my greatest concerns would have been that had she been a very old dog she more than likely would have been put to sleep instead of being rehomed. Absolute disgrace.

Unfortunately with any form of ID it is only any good if followed up.  I also know of owners checking regularly with the dogs home about their missing Blue Merle border collie, being told they hadn't a dog of that description, then the vet noticed the tattoo, the NDTR contacted and breeder located who was still in touch with owner and dog re-united.

They didn't realise that the dog was the Blue Merle collie the owner was looking fro as they thought it was a crossbreed, as it wasn't Black and White!  This despite being told the collie was a Blue Merle with distinctive half white face.

Oh I agree Barbara and if the Dog Wardens do not understand a description and know their breed of dogs properly then mistakes may happen to a degree but how on earth could they not know what a Labrador looks like! Doesn't bear thinking about that if they hadn't contacted the Lab rescue for help then this poor dog would have been in a new home and their poor owners would have always been wondering what had happened to her. Or, if the dog had been elderly then it may have lost its life. It is what nightmares are made of.

> if the dog had been elderly then it may have lost its life. It is what nightmares are made of.

and it has happened, elderly dogs PTS before owners could find them.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">and it has happened, elderly dogs PTS before owners could find them.

I would be distraught if that happened to me!  I have an elderly, slow, Bearded Collie.  She has extremely thin coat, and looks a trifle tatty.  I would be so worried if she went missing, and missed her thyroid meds.  But can understand that she possibly looks really ancient, and I cannot see anyone wanting to rehome her.  I couldn't handle her being put to sleep before her time. 

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> it has happened, elderly dogs PTS before owners could find them

Oh yep. My friends mum and dads elderly dog got spooked and legged it one day. They rang the dog warden, the local (BIG) pound/rehoming centre, day after day.

They were told they did not have a dog of that breed/description there.

They asked when they could come and look round and were told 'come Saturday after 1pm'.

They did and were made to wait another hour outside as the staff were 'busy'.

When they got in there, purely by chance they saw their dogs distinctive collar in a pile of stuff presumably ready for the bin. Her collar with her tag still on it.

Anyone feeling sick yet? Oh yes, the kennels were 'busy' because on a saturday morning, they put down all the pound dogs that had done their seven days, which included poor Sammy. She had been there all week.

By all accounts my friends dad had to be hauled off the manager by the police, and they never even attempted to apologise, and it took a HUGE battle (with the police now involved!) to get Sammys body back. They did (she was still warm!) and buried her at home.

Now this was in the days before microchipping, and some would say that they should have gone to the kennels to check for themselves rather than waiting till the weekend. But these people at the time (this was back in the early 80s) were NEVER told that their dog was there, or potentially there, nor knew that there was any risk of her being put to sleep before they got there.

I would love to say this kennels no longer runs, or no longer makes such errors but sadly I know for a fact that is NOT the case, they do, on a fairly regular basis, mis-identify dogs, and put down dogs who have owners desperately trying to get hold of them.

We can only hope that as chipping becomes more widespread,the wardens and dog pounds will routinely chip check all the strays when they first arrive then so many mistakes will not be made.

But that is why they should be doing it NOW. It would be so much easier for them if the owner of the dog was identified quickly and would save them having to house and feed the dog for 7 days. How much trouble is it to scan a dog! Not exactly rocket science , or maybe it is!!!!