Barking Blondes: National Microchipping Month
There we were enjoying a congo at our local North London street party in glorious sunshine, when a handsome black-and-white Staffie, appeared from nowhere and peed on the limp bunting. He was collarless and behaving like an opportunistic batchelor by stepping between every dancing couple, staring at them, then barring his teeth.
One brave neighbor approached him with a spoon of huumus which was devoured in one gulp, including half the spoon. Luckily two local bobbies (we know this sounds like Candleford Green, but this is nappy valley) produced a make shift rope lead and lead the now amiable creature away.
What happened next? Well there was no tag, which is illegal, but more importantly meant there was no way of finding the owner. In the old days the dog would have been taken to the pound in the hope that at some point it will be found by distraught owner. These days of course, the dog may be micro chipped. The police are able to scan stray dogs and in an ideal world, this would work alongside a collar and tag. There is a penalty of £3000 for a dog that doesn’t wear a tag.
At the moment, however, a micro chip is optional and down to the decision of the owner. Very soon, all that is about to change. This in National Micro chipping month and on Thursday we welcomed, Lord de Mauley, from DEFRA, onto our radio show. He informed us that although many responsible dog users have chosen to use this technology since its invention over a decade ago, from 2016, it will become compulsory. With fines for animals not chipped.
Dog theft is now at its highest ever and thanks to technology and social media maybe our animals have a safer future. A couple of our listeners were sceptic.
“Whose pocket will this latest bit of technology line?” asked one doubter from Dartford
Well the simple answer is, if you do your research your pet can be chipped for free. Vets offer the service but so do charities, usually without charge. The Blue Cross, Dogs Trust, Wood Green, Mayhew, all have tents at various dog shows throughout the summer, offering free microchipping.
One caller, from Bexley, told us how her dog’s chip could never be found. Apparently it had moved around the body and disappeared without trace. This is quite rare but it’s a good idea to get your vet to scan when paying a visit. Just to check that its still able to be located. When we travelled to Paris we took our own scanner in case customs couldn’t find the chips in our dogs and confiscated them! Paranoid, we know.
Debbie Matthews (Bruce Forsythe’s daughter) has created Vets get Scanning, which encourages all vets and rescue centres to scan any new patients. As with any legislation there are critics. One suspicious caller asked us “Does it cause cancer ?” Vets say no. Importantly, who is going to police it? There will be a certain type of dog owner who will never make the move to micro chip their dog?.
Will it be as effective as the dog fouling legislation? We still have to hear from anyone who has heard of or witnessed a prosecution from not picking up poo in the park. By the way, the rogue Staffie, appeared at the end of the afternoon with its young owner. She was a hippie chick using a tye dye scarf as his lead and collar. As the two of them wafted past us in a haze of patchouli, so the Staffie turned his head back at us and grinned. He knew she would find him. Little devil.
The Barking Hour, 3-4PM BBC London 94.9FM, www.barkingblondes.net
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