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Simon Coveney T.D. , Minister for Agriculture, Food & The Marine and broadcaster Sharon Ní Bheolain highlighting National Microchipping Month with Eddie and Arthur, 8 week old lurcher puppies from a litter of six that Dogs Trust are hoping to re-home. Photo: Patrick Bolger

September is the first ever National Microchipping Month in Ireland and Minister Simon Coveney TD is encouraging dog owners to get their dogs microchipped in the context of forthcoming legislation which will make it compulsory.

All 26 counties are represented in National Microchipping Month, with veterinary practices, animal welfare organisations, re-homing centres, local authority pounds, pet retail outlets and charities taking part in National Microchipping Month. You can find lists of participants at www.ncm.ie the 'Your Area' section and you can follow National Chipping Month on Facebook to find out what's happening in your locality.

As part of National Microchipping Month thousands of dogs will be microchipped and registered in association with Fido, Dogs Trust and all the associated partners during the month of September free of charge. In addition to this, subsidised chipping and registration will take place at hundreds of veterinary surgeries around the country. Pet owners are also encouraged to have the contact details for their animal’s chip checked to ensure that they are correct and up to date.

Simon Coveney TD, Minister of Agriculture, Food & The Marine, said micro chipping helps speed up the re-homing of lost or stray dogs. "This will reduce the cost of caring for dogs while owners are being located. It will reduce stress on people who have lost their animals."

The Minister said that while many dog owners have had their animals chipped voluntarily, experience elsewhere shows that this reaches a plateau unless it made compulsory.

“This is why earlier this year during the debates on the Animal Health & Welfare Bill I said that I intended to introduce mandatory chipping. Following the enactment of the Animal Health & Welfare Act, my Department conducted a public consultation on the issue of dog microchipping. We received a wide range of submissions and legislation on compulsory dog microchipping is now being prepared.

“I will be bringing forward the details of this scheme presently but I can say that, where an animal has been chipped and registered correctly with a database like fido.ie prior to the adoption of the legislation, both the animal and its owner will be in compliance with the law. Therefore, I would encourage as many dog owners as possible to get their dogs chipped and registered sooner rather than later. While microchipping is not mandatory yet, this is not a reason to delay because microchipping will undoubtedly speed up the process of re-uniting lost dogs with their owners.”

There are lots of local and regional opportunities surrounding this initiative in various locations for the rest of September and Avondhu readers are encouraged to get advice and support from one of the veterinary practices advertising on this page.

The slogan 'Chip it, Check it' hopes to encourage people not only to have their pet microchipped, but also to check with the database to make sure that their contact details are correct and up to date. Sometimes pets that are actually microchipped can not be reunited with their owners if they do not register the microchip correctly and always remember to update their contact details if they change.

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