6700 microchip petitioners howling at the moon

Waikato Federated Farmers senior vice-president Stew Wadey at Parliament yesterday. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Waikato farmers yesterday presented a 6700-signature petition to MPs, calling for a dog microchipping law to be axed - but they may as well have been howling at the moon.

The law, which will require all newly registered dogs to be microchipped, was passed in 2003 and is set to take effect on July 1.

National, the Green Party and United Future disagree with the law in its present form and want to alter it through amendments to a separate piece of legislation, the Local Government Law Reform Bill, but cannot agree on how to do that.

Federated Farmers Waikato president Peter Buckley, who arrived at Parliament with a handful of supporters and one Federated Farmers member dressed in a dog suit, told MPs that the provisions should be scrapped because they were unnecessary and had little public support.

He said if local councils policed dog registration there would be no need for microchipping.

Kennel Club president Lesley Chalmers said the regime would not stop dog attacks, because negligent owners would avoid microchipping their dogs.

But United Future MP Gordon Copeland and Green MP Metiria Turei reiterated that there would be no change in their parties' positions - meaning that attempts to scrap or limit the microchipping regime are likely to fail.

- NZPA