The Dogs (Licensing and Identification) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012

PART 4 N.I. MICROCHIPPING

Microchipping of dogs kept under a block licence N.I.

8.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5) the holder of a block licence shall ensure that all dogs kept under the licence shall be microchipped before they attain the appropriate age.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), in the case of such dogs the appropriate age is—

(a) from the date these Regulations come into operation, 12 weeks;

(b) from 1 January 2013, 8 weeks.

(3) Where a dog that has attained the appropriate age arrives on any premises for which a block licence is in force and has not already been microchipped, the holder of the licence shall microchip the dog within 7 days from the date the dog arrived on the premises.

(4) Paragraph (1) does not apply to—

(a) a dog kept under a block licence if the holder of the licence produces to the district council a certificate signed by a veterinary surgeon to the effect that implantation (or continued implantation) of a microchip in that dog would have an adverse effect on the health of the dog;

(b) greyhounds kept under a block licence until 1 January 2013.

(5) Paragraph (1) does not apply to the holder of a block licence issued before the coming into operation of these Regulations.

Conditions for valid microchipping N.I.

9.—(1) For the purposes of Article 6(8) of the Order and regulation 8(1) a dog is microchipped if (and only if) it is implanted with a microchip which—

(a) generates a unique number when read by a scanning device;

(b) is implanted by a competent person;

(c) complies with either ISO standard 11784:1996 or Annex A to ISO standard 11785:1996 of the International Standards Organisation's standards for microchips M1 ;

(d) is registered on a database which holds the information set out in paragraph (2); and

(e) that database is accessible to officers.

(2) A database referred to in paragraph (1) shall record the following information—

(a) the unique number generated by the microchip;

(b) in respect of the keeper of the dog implanted with the microchip—

(i) the keepers name and address; and

(ii) at least one contact telephone number; and

(c) in respect of the dog implanted with the microchip—

(i) its breed;

(ii) its sex;

(iii) colour and distinguishing marks; and

(iv) date of birth or estimated year of birth.

(3) A database shall be made available to an officer at all times.

(4) For the purposes of regulation 8(1), a dog is microchipped where a microchip has been implanted in the dog before the coming into operation of section 2(1) of the Dogs (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.

(5) A competent person who carries out the microchipping must make arrangements to notify the database operator of the microchip details within 7 days of carrying out the microchipping so that the database may be updated.

(6) For the purpose of this regulation a competent person means a veterinary surgeon or person who has been received instruction on how to implant a microchip.

Marginal Citations

M1 ISO Central Secretariat, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 1 rue de Varemb, Case postale 56, CH-1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland.

Powers of officers N.I.

10.—(1) An officer may require the scanning of a microchip implanted in a dog for the purposes set out in these Regulations.

(2) For the purposes of regulation 9(1) an officer may compare any information made available by a database operator with information held in any register kept in accordance with Article 15(1) of the Order or records kept under regulation 11.

Record keeping N.I.

11.—(1) A holder of a block licence shall keep a record of the microchip numbers of all dogs held under a block licence, which may be kept in written or electronic form, containing the following information—

(a) microchip details of each of the dogs of the appropriate age kept at the premises where a block licence is in force;

(b) date of sale, transfer or death of any dog;

(c) the name and address of the person to whom any dog is sold or transferred; and

(d) the new keeper's dog licence or block licence number.

(2) Information about the sale, transfer or death of any dog shall be recorded within 7 days of its sale, transfer or death.

(3) Records kept under this regulation shall be retained for a minimum of 3 years from the date of the last entry.

(4) The holder of a block licence shall, if required to do so by an officer, produce for inspection at all reasonable times the record kept under this regulation.

(5) Where the record is kept in written form, the holder of a block licence shall permit copies to be taken by an officer.

(6) Where the record is kept in electronic form, the holder of a block licence shall produce the record in a form which may be taken away by an officer.

Revocation N.I.

12.  The Dogs (Licensing and Identification) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 M2 are revoked.

Marginal Citations

M2 S.R. 2011 No. 279