Language capabilities?

I've yet to hear of a lost cat or dog that has managed to recite its address or telephone number.


I don't believe that microchips cause tumours. There has been an anecdotal incidence of tumours around the shoulderblade area on cats on dogs but these are rare and more likely to be related to repeated vaccinations in that area along with the regular application of anti-flea and tick preparations in the same place. That does concern me.

To reduce the repeated trauma to the neck area, our French vets no longer do annual booster vaccinations there - they do it in the thigh area.

All my cats and dogs are and will be microchipped and I have no concerns about that. Of considerably more concern is a lost animal not being reunited with me. No point in finding a lost dog has been euthanased but consoling yourself by being able to say at least it wouldn't have got a tumour.


We're all different... I would never do that.


Yes. I think you're a bit neurotic. But anyway, I wouldn't put name and address on tag, just phone number and perhaps post code.

Ours was chipped when we got him but if he wasnt we would have had it done anyway. He also has a collar with a tag with our surname, address and phone number on. We thought even though hes tagged if he escaped and someone local found him they could just ring us and we could collect him. If he didnt have one they might think he was a stray until he got scanned and checked.

Plus without a collar on he looks naked and he doesnt like it if you take it off him!

What about the people (that are animals too) who are unable to recite their addresses/names? Such as foreigners, those with learning difficulties, mental health issues, young children, people that are caught by the police doing unlawful things that refuse to reveal their identities, or people with medical conditions that render them unable to speak?

I know I said in my previous post that people should be given the choice as to whether or not their dogs get chipped, but after remembering that a law to chip all dogs in England will be coming into effect next year, then I do think that compulsory chipping of people and other animals should be done too.If you are going to do it to one species, then why not them all? Besides, chipping people would make it a lot easier to identify bodies, criminals, lost children, vulnerable adults, etc. However, the human rights brigade would not want humans to be put on par with 'inferior' species would they?

true, it'd be our luck that we'd get fined for not having him done though.

to be honest there will be no benefit to having ours done - he doesn't wander
(to be honest, he barely ever leaves my side.)
we're not planning on ever getting him a pet passport as we can't afford to travel.
as an aside, he'll also never be kenneled.

we do leave him outside shops, but if someone takes him what are the chances that he will ever be scanned for the chip?
i'm aware of the Vets Get Scanning campaign, but it hasn't seemed to have gained any ground.

as for having cats done, i once found a cat that had been knocked down by the roadside, and upon requesting a carrier bag at a nearby house to take it to the vet to be scanned, so, if it had a chip, the owner could be informed, the woman who answered the door just said "oh, people don't bother with cats, you may as well go put it in the bin down the road" - nice attitude

anyway, the dog will get done, but just to stay within the law. we only tout one byelaw and that's the leash law, However, i'm fully confident in my dogs recall and temperament to allow him to walk free, unless it's in a busy area with lots of people, where he is, of course, on his lead.
he is also put on it, or held by his collar if we see another dog approaching or someone who doesn't seem to like the look of him, which is only polite.
He has a collar with an information tag on at all times, so for now i'm happy that he's suitably "labelled"

my rabbits will not be being chipped, however much the RSPCA think i should have them done.
i've had them for 6 years already, if they were going to escape or be stolen, that would have happened by now.
considering one of them was an escapee who we captured in the street and whos owner never came and collected for her, i think we're doing a pretty good job of keeping her contained!

Please elaborate on how you thought I was asking if I was being neurotic and why you think I am being so. I never actually asked if I was being neurotic. Do you think I am for thinking of things that could easily happen (after all, people are repeatedly being warned not to reveal clues as to where they live or when they'll be away from home online).Or for not actually knowing if name tags are mandatory?

As for me leaving my dog tied outside a shop. Like I said before I would NEVER do so if my view of him were to become obstructed. NEVER!

I agree with the other poster, you come across as neurotic to a degree.

That said, I'd like us at the top of the food chain to carry ID cards and would have no objections to having a chip implant that carried my medical records.

Maybe because when animals get lost/injured etc they can't tell anyone where they live and who owns them?!

My Cockatiel is not chipped But he has a Band on his leg with all relevant stuff

Well, a lot of human animals (for reasons as I previously stated) are unwilling/incapable of telling others where they live.

Both my cats and my dog are microchipped. I wouldn't consider not having it done. If ever one of the cats wandered when chasing something or somehow the dog escaped then there's a chance at getting them back

I had most my two dogs microchipped as puppies.

The cat's had me microchipped.

Something went wrong there...

No they are not, not a lot of them

How??

Did you avoid the MMR vaccine as well?

My cat is microchipped, which is brilliant for operating the cat flap so only she can get in.

(Not had her too long. She has recently learned how to use it to get in, but still hasn't worked out that it goes the other way as well. )

I was advised by the woman at my puppy training class that it's illegal for a dog to not wear a tag even if it's microchipped. You can also be fined if the tag doesn't have the owners name and address on it. This was a shock to me as we only had our puppy's name and our telephone number on hers. New one has been ordered though. I'm in Scotland so don't know if the same applies in England and Wales.

My little cat is microchipped. I'm sure she appreciates it because if she goes to the vet and needs to have her temperature taken she doesn't have to have a theremometer shoved up her bum, they just waft something above her head.

i rather take that risk then take the risk of a tumor.
anyway, she is 12 years old almost and stay in most of the time, she goes out to the back garden and that is it.

I expect so, it was not available when I was a child.



Mine got a Magnet on her collar, does the same job.

Same here in England, a dog must have a collar and must have a contact of some sort on that collar, phone number, address.

Not doing so is illegal.

Good for you - I'd rather go with the 90-99% chance they won't get cancer. Besides, I'm moving abroad and I don't have any choice in the matter if I want to take them with me.

we've always been of the impression that putting the dogs name on the tag is never a good idea, this was the old paranoia about dogs being stolen - i.e. it's easier for the offending person to take your dog if they know its name as it will pay attention when it hears his name.

the england rules are the same as scotland, but there is actually a set requirement for what you need to have on there.
Name (yours), house number, postcode and a contact number HAVE to be on there.

iirc, street name is optional, other things that are often added are "i'm chipped" "i'm spayed/neutered" and possibly your veterinarians contact number

well i say they HAVE to be on there. no one actualy polices the tag law so no one has these things.

got bitten by a stray yesterday then had to hang onto the thing for another 2 hours while the dog warden contacted everyone in the city who had lost a GSD.
to be fair through, once he'd bit me, he was a lovely dog, but a tag could have cut out the middleman and gotten me to medical treatment a lot quicker in this situation

Same here. I actually caught measles and very unpleasant (and life-threatening) it was too. Had to be given some nasty drug every 4 hours day and night. Not much fun for my parents either.


I don't like the idea of cat collars. It's a compromise between being safe to wear and not losing them all the time. A microchip has all the advantages and none of the drawbacks.

Does it stop other cats with magnet collars getting in? I can't see how you can personalise (should that be cat-ise?) a magnet. In which case it doesn't do the same job.

Both my furkids are micro chipped and all my kids had the MMR jabs.

My local dog warden told me when the furkids were puppies (I met him when having a wee walk with the pups) that all dogs need a collar and a tag with their owners contact details. I remember, and this was about 7 years ago, saying they are chipped and if they got out all the info you need is on the chip. He said they still need a collar and a tag with the info.

My two pups were doing the play thing that dogs do and one of them got snagged in the others collar - I was home at the time and if I hadn't, one would have choked to death. My dogs no longer have their collars with tags on all the time. They only go on when we go out. It's a risk but one I'm happy to take - fine away is how I view it.

I got my cat from the Cats Protection, who microchip all their cats.

I don't understand why you wouldn't microchip a pet. If they get lost or stolen, you can easily identify who owns the pet. As for the humans aren't micro-chipped argument...what a load of tosh. Humans are a lot easier to identify than lost/stolen pets.