Compulsory microchips for dogs set to become law

By KEVIN TAYLOR political reporter

Compulsory microchipping of all newly registered dogs and those classified as dangerous will be required from July 2006 under a law set to pass in Parliament tomorrow.

The Government expects all dogs to be microchipped and on a national database by 2015.

The microchip provision, and another that bans the importation of four dangerous breeds, was supported 81-35 by MPs in Parliament yesterday.

The Dog Control Amendment Bill came after a series of high-profile dog attacks including one on 7-year-old Auckland girl Carolina Anderson.

The most controversial proposal has been to insert microchips in dogs.

The select committee that considered the bill recommended against universal microchipping, but Local Government Minister Chris Carter re-introduced the provision yesterday and got the support of New Zealand First, the Green Party and all but one United Future MP.

Mr Carter called microchipping an inexpensive, sensible safety measure.

It would cost between $12 and $20 a dog plus veterinary fees, but he said animal control officers could easily be trained to insert microchips as well.

The Government would pay the $1 million cost required to establish the national database.

The microchipping requirement applies to dogs newly registered or impounded dogs, as well as specific dogs classified by the courts as dangerous.

Mr Carter disagreed with the majority view of the select committee that only dogs classified as dangerous be microchipped.

"If we are going to have an effective national database ... then it has to be universal and catch all dogs."

United Future MP Paul Adams voted against his party in opposing the microchip provision, but he told the Herald last night he would not oppose the whole bill.

He said he felt strongly about microchipping because he believed it would just be another cost on responsible dog owners, while the irresponsible would continue to be unaffected.



The law will

* Require newly registered dogs, as well as impounded dogs and those classified as dangerous, to be microchipped from July 1, 2006.

* Establish a national database that will allow councils to share information.

* Ban from December 1 the importation of four breeds - american pitbulls, brazilian filas, japanese tosas and dogo argentinos - and set up ways for Parliament to ban more breeds in future.

* Require dogs identified by dog-control officers as being menacing to be muzzled in public and neutered.

* Sets an expectation that dogs will be leashed in public places, particularly where children are around.