There are 2 important dates in the calendar for our dog owning clients;

A) From September 1st 2015, all pups MUST be microchipped, registered and certified. This must be done either by the time they are 12 weeks old or before they leave the property on which they were born. In fact, it is illegal to sell, supply, buy or take ownership of a pup that does NOT have a certificate of microchip.

B) All of the above applies to ALL dogs from March 31st 2016.

As an owner you must ensure that all the details on the database are always correct and up to date. If changes occur, the database must be informed of these, eg address, contact number etc. These changes are then recorded on your new certificate.

Many of you will have dogs that were microchipped before the start of these regulations and may be asking yourselves what happens now? For a start, they do not need to be microchipped again, but you must assure:

• that your dogs details are stored on an approved database.
• the details are correct
• a new certificate is issued by the database.

The main reasons for these changes are to reduce Ireland’s stray dog population and to try to eliminate puppy farming.

Foe more information, or to answer any of your questions, please contact one of the team at The Animal Hospital on 01-4515930 or email us at [email protected]

Please note these regulations do not apply to cats.