Getting scanners into as many places as possible will help reunite lost dogs with their people and discourage dog theft. Excellent news!
Sales of pet scanners soar at Easy Animal ahead of announcement that all dogs will be microchipped
Easy Animal reports a large increase in the sales of pet scanners as the government are set to announce new legislation to identify the owners of dangerous dogs.
Pet retailer Easy Animal have seen a marked increase in the number of microchip pet scanners ahead of the proposed new legislation to microchip all dogs.The government is set to announce next week that all dogs are to be compulsory microchipped. After a few years of campaigning with little success the RSPCA and police will finally get their way so that all puppies born will be microchipped by law and all dog owners will have to face a £15-30 charge.
This new legislation is being introduced to try to crackdown on the rise of incidents with dangerous dogs where dogs are being bred purely to intimidate or attack by irresponsible owners. Under the scheme each new dog will be injected under the skin of a dog between the shoulder blades with a microchip which is the size of a grain of rice. This then can be scanned by a microchip reader to reveal the unique code and this can then identify the owners address details.
Neil Parish MP, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on animal welfare has concerns he said: "If we're not careful we're going to make things more difficult for legitimate dog owners, and not solve the real problem of dangerous dogs. We have got to find the dogs who are being bred illegally by people who mix breeds to create potentially vicious dogs."
Hopefully this new plan for compulsory microchipping of dogs will lead to safer streets and communities as people will feel safer in the long term. At present it is difficult to see how this new legislation will be policed as certain sectors of the community will be reluctant to comply.
Whilst it may not track down the minority of dog owners who have alternative objectives, microchipping will certainly benefit the vets, rescue centres and the RSPCA who struggle on a daily basis to identify dogs during their normal practise.
Sophie Berrisford of Easy Animal says, ' We have seen a steady growth in the sales of microchip scanners and this new legislation will lead to a huge surge in the sale of these units so that police forces, district councils, veterinarians, rescue centres and dog organisations will need to invest.'