Does my cat or dog have to be microchipped?

A microchip does nothing on its own. It is a number, and it works only if that number leads to a current phone number on a database a vet or rescue can search. Every rescue in the country will tell you the same thing: the majority of chipped animals they scan are registered to a phone number that no longer works. Updating the entry costs nothing or nearly nothing and takes five minutes.

Step by step

1. Check the current requirement for where you live.Dog microchipping has been compulsory across the UK for some years. Cat microchipping became compulsory in England under the Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023, with the deadline in June 2024. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own positions on cats — check GOV.UK, the Scottish Government or DAERA for yours.
2. Note the exemptions.Free-living cats that live with little or no human interaction or dependency — farm, feral and community cats — are outside the cat requirement. A vet can also certify that an animal should not be chipped on health grounds.
3. Find out whether your animal already has a chip.Any vet will scan for free, and most rescues will too. A rehomed animal is usually chipped but frequently still registered to the previous keeper or the rescue.
4. Find out which database the chip is on.There are several compliant databases. Search the chip number on a lookup tool that queries all of them, and it will tell you which one holds the record.
5. Get yourself recorded as the keeper.This is a transfer, not a new registration, and it needs the previous keeper or the rescue to release it or the database to process a transfer of keepership. Do it at the point of getting the animal, when the seller or rescue is still contactable.
6. Keep the details current — it is a legal duty.New address, new phone number, new email. Keeping the record accurate is part of the requirement, and it is what actually gets an animal home. Put it on the moving-house checklist.
7. Add a second contact.Most databases allow an alternative contact. A relative or friend who is likely to answer when you are away or abroad substantially improves the odds.
8. Fit a collar and tag as well, for dogs.Separately from microchipping, the Control of Dogs Order 1992 requires a dog in a public place to wear a collar with the owner's name and address on it or on a tag. A phone number is sensible but the name and address is the legal requirement.
9. Check the chip is still readable at the annual check.Chips very occasionally fail or migrate. Ask the vet to scan at the yearly appointment and confirm the number matches your paperwork.

Common mistakes

• Assuming the breeder or rescue transferred the record — Very often they did not, and the animal remains registered to them. Check the record yourself within the first week.
• Not updating after moving house — It is an offence and it defeats the purpose. Moving is exactly when animals go missing and exactly when the record is most likely to be wrong.

Questions people ask