Microchipping

[Michael Romanos]

Microchipping of dogs comes into force on July 1 in New Zealand. It applies only to puppies born after July 1 and they must be microchipped within three months of their first registration with a local council which in turn gives three months grace from birth. Exemptions are farm working dogs and service dogs including drug dogs, police dogs, guide dogs and hearing dogs and companion dogs - whatever the latter means???
There are a huge number of farm working dogs in NZ and then who is to tell if a pet dog on a farm is not a working dog too. So if Taylor was a little pup again, I would register him with the local council as a working dog - which is a correct description. I think there are a lot of holes in this legislation.
The cost by vets for the chipping is around NZ$60-$100 (US$35-$60) So the vets had vigourously supported this law.

[corgimom]

Cody was microchipped when he was neutered and that cost $45 extra, plus
I had to send $15 into the company to officially register him.

linda

[herdingdogs]

I have mixed feelings about microchips. They are certainly beneficial in finding lost dogs. But I just hate the idea of deliberately putting a foreign object into my dogs body.

I'm definitely not going to do it with my older dogs but may someday with the younger ones or a future puppy.

Still on the fence,
Linda

[corgimom]

Linda,

I sort of felt the same way as you did regarding microchipping. But I was
told that it was the size of about a grain of rice - I did go ahead and do it
because I have never heard of any side effects from having it done.

linda

[Fluffypants]

Jackie was microchipped at her first vet appointment (with me). The cost for me was the same as Linda states above. Small price to pay for the peace of mind. I was prepared to pay more!

Imagine if the WORST happened, and your corgi was lost . . . who wouldn't pay at least that much if it meant getting them back? (that was my reasoning, anyway) I have never heard of any side effects either. And the process is the same as getting a shot.

[Jhemphill]

Both Maxi and Muggie are microchipped and the cost was the same as Linda and Fluffypants. I too feel that it is a small price to pay for the peace of mind that it brings me in case either of them was lost. When I found Muggie the first thing I did was take him to a Vet to see if he had a Microchip, so he could be returned to his owner, even though in the end no one claimed him. Animal Control check strays that they pick up for microchips, so they can notify the owner. I beleive in microchipping.

[KatC]

I am very much in favour of microchipping. It only cost me $38AU which is approx $28US, and I have seen special discount microchipping days advertised for $25AU.
We can notify the central registration if taking the dog on holidays and provide extra contact numbers etc
.
I personally have taken a lost cattle dog, and later a lost Rottweiler to the RSPCA - neither had any identification or microchip.
About three months ago a Siberian Husky became startled down at the waterfront, bolted and has not been seen since - no microchip.

A cat from Sydney was found on a beach in Melbourne some 650km away, a dog found in Cairns 1715 km from here - both had microchips and were very happily reunited with their despairing owners.

I read with interest some time ago about a lady and her dog in America somewhere, they were out walking when they were in a traffic accident - the lady was unconscious and had no identification - BUT - the dog was microchipped and the authorities were able to take it from there.

[tandemgal]

deleted by T-Gal

[corgimom]

T-gal
How scary that must have been for you in regards to Emma

Linda

[Michael Romanos]

Microchipping causes absolutely no harm to dogs and the injection of it causes minimal pain.

The advent of microchipping of dogs in New Zealand is one of a number of Government measures to rid the country of dangerous dogs. But it is not going to prevent a single dog from biting.

Between 6% and 10% of all dogs in NZ are unregisterd and it is largely from that group where the dangerous and biting dogs come from. A person who doesn't register their dog is hardly likely to have the dog microchipped.

Registered dogs get an ID tag which is attached to their collar ( by the way, Taylor has never worn a collar). With only 515,00 dogs (one in eight ratio to humans here as opposed to one in six in the USA), we have few dogs who if missing or strayed don't get a fair deal in being reunited with their owners - unless they are accidently killed. We have pretty good dog control agencies, SPCA and others to rope in strayed and lost dogs. As well, there are multi methods for owners to locate their missing dogs. Newspapers will carry free adverts for people who find a strayed pet.

A microchipped dog will still need to be fully registered - so all it means is a doubling up of fees in the first instance. It is Government gone mad. Dogs today, people later.

[corgimom]

Dogs& cats are supposed to be licensed here through the Police Dept - then you get a tag with an ID number which of course, helps if the dog or cat gets lost. If the Police find an animal roaming and pick it up, they will work with the Humane Society in reuniting it with it owner, however, you are socked with a $150 fine for not having licensed your pet, along with the fee of ($50, I think) paid to the Humane Society.

linda

[Jeni D]

There was a micro-chipping clinic here in our town a few weeks ago that I didn't hear about until it was over. We leave in a relatively small city so this is not something that vets offer on a regular basis, you just have to catch the clinic when it comes. I definitely want to get Dudley microchipped at some point though. If nothing else, than for the peace of mind of knowing that if something would happen where Dudley got lost, microchipping is just one more way of getting him back to me.

[PocketsMom]

My girls were microchipped before we left for Italy because I was told they had to be in Europe. Pockets is getting done next week when we get shots. Neither of my girls had any side effects and knowing they can find me if need be!

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

A microchipped dog will still need to be fully registered - so all it means is a doubling up of fees in the first instance. It is Government gone mad. Dogs today, people later.

You bring up an interesting point, Michael. Everything seems to be microchipped these days. Our pets, passports, cars (navigation systems), electronic toll collection systems, etc. are all being tracked with microchips. It really does seem like we're next.

I wonder how much it's going to cost to microchip people.

[Chip's Mom]

I got Chip microchipped today (that sounds funny) I too was leery of a foreign object being placed in my pup but Chip gets so much attention when we travel and he isn't trustworthy if he was off leash that I thought it was a little added insurance.