Why Microchipping Your Dog Is Essential for Safety
Why Microchipping Matters
Microchipping provides your dog with a permanent form of identification and greatly increases the chances of being reunited if your dog becomes lost or is stolen. It can also help identify the person responsible for a dog and improve the traceability of dogs when they are sold or transferred.
Microchipping requirements vary between Australian states and territories. Depending on where you live, your dog may need to be microchipped by a certain age, before being sold or given away, or before it can be registered with your local council. Check the current requirements in your state or territory and with your local council.
A microchip isn't a GPS tracker and cannot show you where your dog is. Instead, it contains a unique identification number that can be read with a microchip scanner. The number is linked to information held on a pet registry.
If a lost dog is taken to a vet, council facility, pound, shelter or other organisation with access to a scanner, its microchip can help identify the dog and reunite it with its owner.
What are the benefits of microchipping your dog?
Microchipping can:
- Help reunite lost dogs with their owners. A dog's microchip provides permanent identification that can be scanned if the dog is found.
- Help identify stolen dogs. Unlike a collar and tag, a microchip cannot simply fall off and is difficult to remove.
- Provide lifelong identification. The microchip's unique number remains with the dog throughout its life.
- Help identify owners. Microchip records can help authorised organisations determine who is responsible for a dog.
- Improve traceability. Microchip information can assist with identifying dogs when they are bred, sold, transferred or rehomed.
- Help in an emergency. If an injured dog is taken to a vet, scanning its microchip can help identify and contact its owner.
Remember, a microchip is only as useful as the information associated with it. If you move house or change your phone number or email address, make sure you update your details with the relevant microchip registry.
Microchipping FAQs
What is a microchip?
A dog microchip is a tiny electronic identification device, approximately the size of a grain of rice, which is implanted beneath your dog's skin.
Each microchip contains a unique identification number. When the chip is scanned, this number can be used to find the dog's registration record and, where authorised, the owner's contact details.
A microchip does not contain a battery and is not a GPS tracker, so it cannot be used to track your dog's location.
How and where is a microchip implanted?
A microchip is implanted under the dog's skin using a specially designed needle. In Australia, it is generally implanted between the shoulder blades.
Microchipping must be carried out by a person authorised to do so under the rules applying in your state or territory, such as a veterinarian or appropriately qualified microchip implanter.
Does microchipping hurt a dog?
Microchipping is a quick procedure and usually does not require an anaesthetic. Your dog may experience brief discomfort as the microchip is inserted, similar to receiving an injection.
Once implanted, your dog should not normally be aware of the microchip.
Who can scan a dog's microchip?
Veterinary clinics, council facilities, pounds, animal shelters and animal welfare organisations commonly have microchip scanners.
If you find a lost dog, your local vet, council, pound or animal shelter may be able to scan the dog and help locate its owner.
How is the owner of a microchipped dog traced?
When a lost or stray dog is scanned, the scanner displays the dog's unique microchip number. That number can then be checked against the appropriate microchip registry.
Authorised users can access the information associated with the microchip and use the registered contact details to try to reunite the dog with its owner.
Australia has several pet microchip registries, and arrangements vary between states and territories. This makes it particularly important to know where your dog's microchip is registered and to keep your details current.
How do I know which microchip registry my dog is on?
If you don't know which registry holds your dog's microchip details, you can use an Australian microchip registry search service such as Pet Address to identify the registry associated with the microchip number.
Your vet may also be able to help you check your dog's microchip and determine where it is registered.
Where can I get my dog microchipped?
Veterinary clinics commonly provide microchipping services. Depending on where you live, microchipping may also be available through councils, animal welfare organisations, shelters and special community microchipping events.
If you are buying or adopting a puppy, check the microchipping requirements in your state or territory. In many parts of Australia, puppies must already be microchipped before they can legally be sold or transferred to a new owner.
Make sure the ownership and contact information associated with the microchip is transferred or updated when you bring your new dog home.
How much does it cost to microchip a dog in Australia?
Microchipping costs vary between veterinary clinics, councils and other providers. Some councils and animal welfare organisations also run discounted or free microchipping programs from time to time.
Check with your vet or local council for current prices and any subsidised microchipping programs available in your area.
Remember that microchipping and council pet registration are not necessarily the same thing. Depending on where you live, you may also need to register your dog separately with your local council and pay the applicable registration fee.
Is microchipping compulsory in Australia?
Microchipping laws are determined at state and territory level, so the exact requirements depend on where you live.
Requirements can include microchipping by a particular age, before a dog is sold or transferred, or before the dog can be registered with the local council.
Because these rules can change, check with your state or territory government and local council for the requirements that apply to your dog.
Does my dog still need a collar and ID tag?
A microchip should not be considered a replacement for a collar and identification tag.
Collar and identification requirements differ between Australian states, territories and local council areas. A visible ID or council registration tag can also make it much quicker for someone who finds your dog to contact you without needing to take the dog somewhere to have its microchip scanned.
Check your local council's requirements to find out which tags your dog must wear.
Keep Your Dog's Microchip Details Up to Date
Microchipping your dog is a small step that can make a significant difference if your pet ever goes missing. But having the chip implanted is only half the job.
Check that your dog's microchip is registered correctly and that your name, address, telephone number and other relevant contact details remain current. If you move home, change your phone number or your dog changes ownership, update the microchip record as soon as possible.
A microchip can only help someone contact you if the information connected to it leads them to you.
As well as microchipping it is vitally important, and a legal requirement in many states, that your dog wears an ID tag or collar.