Dog control provisions strengthened

The new package of dog control provisions, including microchipping, is being introduced under the Dog Control Amendment Acts 2003 and 2004. Other measures include: increased council powers in dog control enforcement; more controls on owners; new tools to help manage and track dogs; and increased penalties for irresponsible owners.

"We need to provide a safe way of identifying a dog and its owner. The law treats all dog owners equally and it has to be that way if we are serious about putting the responsibility of having dogs with the owners,” Ms Mahuta said.

Dogs needing a microchip from 1 July this year are: all newly registered dogs from 1 July 2006, dogs classified as dangerous or menacing, since 1 December 2003; unregistered dogs that are impounded and released; and registered dogs that are impounded for a second time and released.

"The changes are aimed at better dog control, such as addressing dog attacks on people and, as often happens in rural areas, dog attacks on other people’s stock. Any dog can potentially bite – even family pets.

" I know that most dog owners are responsible people. As with other laws these responsible people bear the burden of enforcements systems aimed at those who do not take as much care of their dogs,” said Ms Mahuta.

Most dogs registered before 1 July registered will not need microchips and the most of those requiring microchips. As dog registration and microchipping are two separate processes, people will still need to register their dogs every year, but microchipping is done once.

Annual registration is important as the updated information gathered is used to help councils fulfill their dog control responsibilities. Microchipping carries a one-off cost of $12-$20 for the microchip plus any insertion fee. The cost of microchipping therefore, is a very small part of the total cost of owning a dog, Ms Mahuta said.