Microchips - Is There A National Register?

[vegemite_toast]

After reading the thread in the Rescue Forum about the dog that was chipped, but the details were very out of date and the original owners could not be contacted, I started to think about our old dog and his microchip details.

We adopted him 10 years ago from the RSPCA in Adelaide and then took him back there to be desexed and microchipped a couple of weeks after adoption.

Since he was microchipped we have moved interstate a couple of times. Each time we have moved we have registered the dog and his microchip details with the relevant council. However, we have misplaced his original microchipping paperwork and therefore do not know whom to contact to change details on whatever registry he was originally listed with.

But should we be renewing his details with a national microchip registry?

When your dog's chip is registered with your local council, can other nearby council's have access to the info so that if your dog is lost and is found in another council area would they be able to track you down, or would your dog languish in a pound until you were able to locate him/her? And if you are on vacation with your dog, and he wanders off, would the council ranger or pound in that locality be able to find your details on any database?

And what about recognition between states etc? We live in a border town, so it is not inconceivable that our dog could actually be found in a different state to that in which we live.

[Faolmor]

There is a national register - but I'm not sure that it's the first port of call for lost dogs turned into the pound. Actually, I'm not even sure how it works!

Someone here will know, though. Otherwise, google may well be your friend!

[~Anne~]

The Australasian Animal Registry is the only national one in Australia. Much depends on the person who is doing the sanning and checking though but this si the best there is.

[MolassesLass]

A microchip is all but worthless without current contact information stored in a registery. You local council is unlikely to check their own records even if you did give them the number and they'd only think to check if the dog was found with a council tag on also.

Central Animal Records and The National Pet Register are also national registeries. NSW has had a state only one since they made microchipping compulsory.

[vegemite_toast]

A microchip is all but worthless without current contact information stored in a registery. You local council is unlikely to check their own records even if you did give them the number and they'd only think to check if the dog was found with a council tag on also.

Central Animal Records and The National Pet Register are also national registeries. NSW has had a state only one since they made microchipping compulsory.

So are you saying that the local councils don't even reliably check their own dog registry databases? Do they just look on the one and/or both of the national registries?

We were almost made to re-chip our dog in NSW because when we tried to register him with his current microchip info the stupid council person said that it was not a real mc#. Apparently the mc#s for NSW were quite different to that which was done years previously in SA. Thankfully we were able to get it sorted out to their satisfaction.

I guess I have some homework to do to try to track down which, if any, national registry our dogs are on and make sure that contact details are indeed current. Thankfully OH hasn't changed his mobile # in well over 12 years, so at least that would be correct on the contact details even if the other info is out of date.

[MolassesLass]

So are you saying that the local councils don't even reliably check their own dog registry databases? Do they just look on the one and/or both of the national registries?

Local councils (in Qld) have a very basic dog information database and it's searched via address and council tag number rather than microchip. If the local council picked up your dog then they'd check for a tag with a contact number on it first, next they'd check for a council tag, next they'd check for a microchip and yes, they'd then contact the microchip registeries NOT search their dog registration data for the microchip number.

NSW is probably different as the microchipping is compulsory state wide - other states probably different again.

[dianed]

So are you saying that the local councils don't even reliably check their own dog registry databases? Do they just look on the one and/or both of the national registries?

Local councils (in Qld) have a very basic dog information database and it's searched via address and council tag number rather than microchip. If the local council picked up your dog then they'd check for a tag with a contact number on it first, next they'd check for a council tag, next they'd check for a microchip and yes, they'd then contact the microchip registeries NOT search their dog registration data for the microchip number.

NSW is probably different as the microchipping is compulsory state wide - other states probably different again.

If a dog micro-chipped and registered in NSW went missing interstate are its chip details available on a national data base. Or do you have to register them yourself on something like CAR or AAR.

[~Anne~]

If a dog micro-chipped and registered in NSW went missing interstate are its chip details available on a national data base. Or do you have to register them yourself on something like CAR or AAR.

You have to have an implanter usually register them on the National database otherwise the chip would scan but they would not have access to the details recorded for that chip.

[Vizsla]

The Australasian Animal Registry is the only national one in Australia. Much depends on the person who is doing the sanning and checking though but this si the best there is.

There are four national microchip registries;

The National Pet Register

Australian Animal Registry

Central Animal Records

Pet Safe

Then there is the NSW Companion Animal Registry (for NSW residents). I would encourage NSW pet owners to also list their pets microchip registry also.

Aslong as your animals details are current and upto date on one of the four national registries, you will be ok.

If an animal is impounded and microchipped, the council/pound/shelter can check www.petaddress.com.au which will let them know which one of the four national registries that microchipped is listed on.

[starreys]

i found out the hard way , after my dog a english bull terrier went missing from my yard last month on the 25th, i found out the following day that his details were not even in the system , somehow his paper work with the register in NSW wasnt logged and even though i had him registered with my council which included giving them his microchip number it meant nothing, 24hours later it was all fixed up but in the meantime i will never know if someone had taken my dog to be scanned if they had all they would have brought up was a number and nothing else. It definitely pays to check if your microchip has got the data attached to it.

[OSoSwift]

I was wondering if you have a dog say rego'd with CAR, if a person scanned your dog and they got the chip number and rabg AAR, would they get the information that the chip is an CAR one?

I have one dog chipped locally and she is rego'd with AAR - which is what all the local vets use and the first port of call for shire ranger and vet hospitals. My new dog is on the CAR register so if he got picked up the first call would be to AAR, would that registery tell them where to call or not? I don't even think they are aware there is 2 National registries, never mind 4 ( which I didn't know either before readind this thread)

Would it be in my best interests to get the CAR chip also registered on the AAR regisrty?

Edited October 21, 2009 by Rommi n Lewis

[~Anne~]

They usually check all registries, or as many as they can till they find a match. ie if the first registry they check is a match they may not check any others.

[KYLOTT]

After reading the thread in the Rescue Forum about the dog that was chipped, but the details were very out of date and the original owners could not be contacted, I started to think about our old dog and his microchip details.

We adopted him 10 years ago from the RSPCA in Adelaide and then took him back there to be desexed and microchipped a couple of weeks after adoption.

Since he was microchipped we have moved interstate a couple of times. Each time we have moved we have registered the dog and his microchip details with the relevant council. However, we have misplaced his original microchipping paperwork and therefore do not know whom to contact to change details on whatever registry he was originally listed with.

But should we be renewing his details with a national microchip registry?

When your dog's chip is registered with your local council, can other nearby council's have access to the info so that if your dog is lost and is found in another council area would they be able to track you down, or would your dog languish in a pound until you were able to locate him/her? And if you are on vacation with your dog, and he wanders off, would the council ranger or pound in that locality be able to find your details on any database?

And what about recognition between states etc? We live in a border town, so it is not inconceivable that our dog could actually be found in a different state to that in which we live.

There are a web sites that you can type in the number and search your chip to see if you a reg there. Yep as a breeder of two breeds and rescue of both I am constantly chasing numbers to see That they are noted on the registry of that animals microchip (Dont just rely on the implanter to lodge to papers ) and then I keep myself as the second contact Just in case the owners do a phantom The dog comes back to me After the fires in Vic I had a rescue dog come back to me But it took 7 days cause the chip was reg in NSW not Vic SOOO very stupid that there is not a CENTRAL NATION WIDE REG

[Kadbury]

Do breeders have to microchip all litters before they go to their new homes? Or is it up to the new owner?

[GRLC]

I think councils just become slack with the whole trying to find the owner thing . I have had so many issues with our local council with dog registration .

One year i got a knock on my door from the animal control officer telling me they had my dog at the pound , they were a bit confused when i advised them that she was actually sitting at the back door . Turns out the new years registration numbers had not updated on their computer system properly and was picking up my dogs registration from the year before !

The second lot of trouble we had was when we moved house and my female staffordshire bull terrier did not adjust to the move so well and was quite anxious if we left the house , our address and phone numbers were updated with council for the dog registration and updated with AAR as soon as we moved . we went away overnight and got a call the next morning from council saying they had picked her up and she was at the council pound, turns out this time after speaking to one of the lady's from council who attends our dog club that they had a huge amount of trouble trying to contact us as could not find any contact details for us they ended up getting it from a building application ?????? ..... perhaps if they had of scanned her for a microchip and updated our address and phone numbers in the first place maybe they would have saved them selves some time ....

makes me so mad . i knew i paid a ridiculous amount of rego for a reason ?????

[dianed]

I don't rely on the microchips alone anymore. My dog know wears a collar with a tag that has my mobile number on it when I go away. It worked recently when she took off in a thunder storm and I was interstate. The same setup worked recently for a friend whose dog ran away from a city yard, he received calls within 10 mins of finding his dog missing, the dog was reunited with its owner within an hour.

[sas]

The Australasian Animal Registry is the only national one in Australia. Much depends on the person who is doing the sanning and checking though but this si the best there is.

There are four national microchip registries;

The National Pet Register

Australian Animal Registry

Central Animal Records

Pet Safe

Then there is the NSW Companion Animal Registry (for NSW residents). I would encourage NSW pet owners to also list their pets microchip registry also.

Aslong as your animals details are current and upto date on one of the four national registries, you will be ok.

If an animal is impounded and microchipped, the council/pound/shelter can check www.petaddress.com.au which will let them know which one of the four national registries that microchipped is listed on.

sorry old thread!

Edited January 2, 2013 by sas

[asal]

i found out the hard way , after my dog a english bull terrier went missing from my yard last month on the 25th, i found out the following day that his details were not even in the system , somehow his paper work with the register in NSW wasnt logged and even though i had him registered with my council which included giving them his microchip number it meant nothing, 24hours later it was all fixed up but in the meantime i will never know if someone had taken my dog to be scanned if they had all they would have brought up was a number and nothing else. It definitely pays to check if your microchip has got the data attached to it.

I am a chipper and that happend with one I had chipped.

apparently its recorded who bought that chip number, because I received a phone call asking me who do I have in my records of the owner of the dog with that chip number.

good reason to make sure you file EVERY bit of your relevant paperwork. you , AS ITS chipper are its last port of call in the case of records being lost further up the chain.

it wasnt a walk inthe park going through every coypy but I found him. Turned out the council records had not onlynot been recorded, hence the call to me. but the owners had moved with no forwarding address.

lucky for him, they let me buy him and i rehomed him, he sure was a cutie.

Edited January 2, 2013 by asal

[RiverStar-Aura]

I know this is an old thread but I thought I'd post my two cents.

It is compulsory for all dogs microchipped in NSW to have owner details listed on the NSW Companion Animal Register. From what I understand, authorities in NSW can only access the NSW database so if your NSW registered dog goes missing in VIC, the owner might not be found.

I travel a lot with my dogs and as such have them both listed on CAR (Central Animal Records) for added safety. I'd like to know I've done everything possible to help my dogs get home in the event they are ever lost/missing.

[Airedaler]

I have one dog that was microchipped in UK, another that is registered with CAR and a third registered with PetSafe. The one registered with PetSafe I was unsure about but when I sopke to CAR they were able to tell me she was registered with PS. They also now have my UK chipped dog registered with them and I was able to buy a certificate from them saying he is registered with them. I also have CAR collar tags so as well as having my details on the collar I have the council registration tag and the CAR tags. Fortunately I've not had to test if the system works.