ChipMeNot.org.uk - NEWS

Shameless political lobbying for compulsory chipping by Dogs Trust - August 2011

Take Action Now to Counter lies

So-called "charity" the Dogs Trust has launched a 'Support Compulsory Microchipping' campaign and is calling on its supporters to lobby parliamentarians to introduce a compulsory dog chipping law throughout the UK. UK Charity law forbids charities from political activity unless it is directly linked to their registered charitable purpose. The Dogs Trust website (and its Facebook page) states:

If you have five minutes we would ask you to write to the Rt Hon Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for DEFRA and if you can spare ten minutes, also write to Lord Henley, Minister for Animal Welfare

This website, our US sister site ChipMeNot USA, the Noble Leon website and the Microchip Implants website all explain why microchipping dogs is such a bad idea. The simplest way of identifying a dog or reuniting him with his owner is the use of a safe collar with a tag that has contact details. Anyone that can read is able to read the tag, and no special equipment is required. In addition their is growing evidence that as well as being a painful procedure chipping animals can cause adverse reactions such as cancer, spinal cord injuries and microchip implant migration. A recent article from the Noble Leon website (see here) explains how pet owners are being misled regarding the safety and reliability of microchip implants.

The Dogs Trust is a registered charity (see here). Their stated charitable objects are: "TO PROTECT DOGS FROM MALTREATMENT, CRUELTY AND SUFFERING."

The lobbying actions of the Dogs Trust are surely a breach of UK charity law. Is it right that people give money to the Dogs Trust to help them rehome dogs but the money is used to create a political lobbying campaign for an action that (a) may well cause but certainly does not protect dogs from maltreatment, cruelty and suffering, and (b) supports the multi-million pound chipping industry (see Microchip Implants for some of the connections between so-called animal charities and the chipping industry).

Chip Me Not UK urges all truly responsible and caring dog owners to take action to counter the Dogs Trust lobbying efforts:

write to the Rt Hon Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for DEFRA (or email via caroline@carolinespelman.com) explaining that your are not in favour of compulsory microchipping of dogs and urging her not to introduce such a law (contact details for Defra can be found here
write to Lord Henley, Minister for Animal Welfare (also at DEFRA) (or email via PS.Lord.Henley@defra.gsi.gov.uk) laying out why compulsory microchipping is a bad idea
write to the Dogs Trust asking them to think again about compulsory microchipping of dogs and pointing out that they should not be conducting political activities (contact details can be found here
write to the Charities Commission to complain about the political lobbying that the Dogs Trust is undertaking (contact details can be found here here

A number of sample letters can be found on the Noble Leon website at:
http://www.noble-leon.com/letters/sampleLetters-microchips.html

ChipMeNot UK announces launch of "No chipping Month" - June 2011

Chip Me Not UK has declared June 2011 as the UK's first official NO CHIPPING MONTH.

The group, concerned about the introduction of compulsory dog chipping legislation around the world with Northern Ireland the most recent to introduce such an ill conceived law, is calling on UK pet owners to consider alternatives to the implantation of electromagnetic microchips in the living flesh of their dogs.

June is dubbed National Microchipping Month by the pro-chipping lobby who stand to make substantial financial profits by exploiting the desire of uninformed animal lovers to do “the right thing”.

As Barbara Haywood writes on the Dog Politics website:

If microchips conjure images of tearful and happy reunions - then you are the willing victim of a very successful marketing campaign - one that plays on your fears.”

To mark NO CHIPPING MONTH Chip Me Not UK has published a new article 'Are Pet Owners Being Misled Regarding the Safety and Reliability of Microchip Implants?' by Jeanne, the author of the Noble Leon website [1]. French Bulldog, Leon died from chip induced cancer in 2004.

Endnotes:

UK media rumours of possible DEFRA dog chip plan - April 2011

The Daily Mail has published an article claiming that they have obtained a confidential Whitehall document with proposals for compulsory micro-chipping of new dogs in England and Wales. According to the Mail, the document which is said to have been drawn up by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) says that "the chips would initially be imprinted with the details of the dog breeder and would be `updated by other persons transferring ownership of their pet with the contact details of the new owner when ownership is transferred'".

There are two bill before the Westminster Parliament that such a proposal could be added to:

In the House of Lords the 'Dog Control Bill [HL] 2010-11'
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/dogcontrolhl.html

In the House of Commons a private members bill the 'Dog Control and Welfare Bill 2010-11'
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/dogcontrolandwelfare.html

The bill in the Lords has nearly finished its passage so such a proposal would have to be snuck in at the next stage. The private members bill in the commons is listed for a provisional 2nd reading in June but has not been printed. The procedure for private members bills says: "As with all bills, if it is not printed before its second reading then it cannot make further progress" (see http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/l02.pdf).

No anti-chipping groups were interviewed for the Mail article which relied heavliy on the pro-chipping RSPCA. For more on the issue of chipping dogs see the "What's Wrong?" section of the site.

The Daily Mail article is online at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1380039/Every-new-pet-dog-35-microchip-Plan-control-dangerous-animals-putting-million-pets-massive-database.html
A similar story appeared in the Independent newspaper which appears to have been copied from the Mail story:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/puppies-may-have-to-be-chipped-in-battle-against-violent-animals-2274418.html

Northern Ireland introduces Compulsory Dog Chipping Law - February 2011

In February the Northern Ireland Assembly passed The Dogs (Amendment) Act - which introduces compulsory micro-chipping of dogs. There is no option to tattoo as an alternative. Clearly the micro-chip companies and the pro-chipping groups such as the Dogs Trust and the RSPCA did a lot of lobbying to ensure that the alternatives were not even considered.

The new law states:

A district council shall not-
(a)issue a dog licence in respect of a dog, or
(b)issue a transfer certificate in respect of a new dog,
unless that dog has been microchipped; and any licence or transfer certificate purporting to be issued in respect of a dog which has not been microchipped is void.

The Act can be read online at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2011/9/contents/enacted

"Stop the Shots NOW" campaign launches - July 2010

A major campaign has been launched by Canine Health Concern and others highlighting the needlessness of annual pet vaccination.

We are told to vaccinate our dogs and cats every year. But is this necessary and is it harmless? The answer to both these questions is no.

After years of writing to the British government and the government's licensing authority (the Veterinary Medicines Directorate), Canine Health Concern and over 100 vets and pet owners are calling for the withdrawal of one-year dog and cat vaccines.

The British Government's Veterinary Medicines Directorate needs to get out of bed with the pharmaceutical industry. A document with all the scientific research to substantiate Canine Health Concern's claim has been sent to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate - this document details the risks associated with vaccinating your pets, and tells you why governments might want you to take those risks. Read it at petvaccine.weebly.com/response-to-the-vmd.html

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO SUPPORT THE "STOP THE SHOTS" CAMPAIGN

UK Residents - Click here to download/print a pre-formatted letter to send to your MP (details of who your MP is also on this link).

Overseas Residents - Click here to download/print a pre-formatted letter to send to/email the UK Chief Veterinary officer. You can also contact the UK Foreign Secretary (also on this link).

Tell your friends - Click here for details on what you can do to help spread the message.

Welsh Assembly announces desire to introduce compulsory dog chipping for breeders

The Welsh Assembly has published the findings of a Task and Finish Group that has been examining "the need to update the Breeding of Dogs Act 1973" [1]. They claim that the report "makes recommendations intended to provide a balanced and reasonable approach to dog breeding in Wales".

The written statement by Elin Jones, Minister for Rural Affairs reveals key recommendations of the Task Group:

they recommended that all dogs in licensed breeding establishment should be microchipped in accordance with approved national standards and that all puppies born there should be microchipped prior to sale or homing. This would provide clear traceability back to the breeder in case of health or welfare concerns.

The Welsh Assembly are able to introduce such measures because animal welfare powers have been devolved to Welsh Ministers under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 - the very act that we have pointed out elsewhere [2] will grant those that chip animals immunity from prosecution in the case of compulsory chipping, despite the fact that evidence is emerging that micro-chipping causes unnecessary suffering to animals (which is a breach of the Animal Welfare Act).

Jones's written statement goes on to point out that there will be a consultation on the draft legislation:

I welcome these recommendations and have asked my officials to prepare draft Welsh legislation under Section 13 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 based on those recommendations. This section of the Act gives the National Assembly power to repeal the existing primary legislation, namely the Breeding of Dogs Act 1973 and replace it with Regulations that are fit for purpose. The draft legislation will be fully consulted on.

We urge everyone concerned about the development of implantable microchips to write to the Welsh Assembly when the consultation begins - we will publish more details when we have them.

Interestingly many of the organisations that were members of the Task and Finish Group just happen to be organisations that have been lobbying for compulsory dog chipping in recent years [3]. The Group's findings can be downloaded from the Welsh Assembly website [4].

Endnotes:

[1] http://wales.gov.uk/about/cabinet/cabinetstatements/2010/100707dog/?lang=en
[2] See 'Unnecessary suffering and immunity from prosecution' section of http://www.chipmenot.org.uk/whats_wrong.asp
[3] http://wales.gov.uk/docs/drah/publications/100706bdaannex2en.pdf
[4] http://wales.gov.uk/topics/environmentcountryside/ahw/animalwelfare/pets/breedingofdogs/reportofthetaskandfinishgroup/?skip=1&lang=en

Dogs Monthly's excellent coverage of the micro-chipping issues

Dogs Monthly magazine has printed two excellent articles on concerns about the chipping of animals. The articles can be downloaded from the Dogs Monthly website at:

'Implanting doubt' - June Dogs Monthly article
'Chip 'n' Spin?' - July Dogs Monthly article

It's good to see some proper investigation being done by journalists on this issue at last.

Mayor of London publishes DEFRA consultation response

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has published his response to the recent DEFRA Dangerous Dogs consultation.

The mayor makes it clear that he does not support compulsory dog chipping:

The Mayor opposes compulsory microchipping and third party insurance as he believes that changes to the legislation should enable agencies to target the worst offenders and the most aggressive dogs.

However it quickly becomes clear that this is driven by cost rather than principle and that he does support voluntary microchipping:

Compulsory microchipping would involve creating something similar to the DVLA, which would be both expensive and highly resource intensive to monitor and enforce. Compulsory schemes are only effective if they are actively enforced and monitored, which in this case would prove very complicated and would jeopardise the effectiveness of the scheme and the clear message that needs to go out.

However, the Mayor is strongly supportive of voluntary microchipping schemes in targeted areas experiencing the biggest problems. The Mayor has already proposed that local authorities and social landlords should identify opportunities for discounted costs for microchipping and neutering with local animal welfare charities and veterinary centres. They should also co-ordinate and promote events in targeted areas to encourage take up by residents. Many authorities are already offering microchipping events and the Dogs Trust has recently offered free microchipping to local authorities in London. By keeping the cost of microchipping to a minimum, residents are more able and likely to chip their dog. The unit cost of microchipping is greatly reduced when bought in bulk. In due course this should be seen as usual social responsibility for dogs.

Clearly there is a lot more that needs to be done to inform politicians of the problems associated with chipping animals. See our Take Action page for some suggestions of what you can do to help.

Download the Mayor of London's Response (pdf)

DEFRA launches Dangerous Dogs Consultation - (NOW CLOSED)

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has launched a 'Consultation on dangerous dogs' [1] and is "seeking views on whether current legislation relating to dangerous dogs adequately protects the public and encourages responsible dog ownership". The closing date for the consultation is 1st June 2010.

The consultation lists "Option 6: A requirement that all dogs, or puppies, are microchipped" on page 21 of the consultation document. The document claims:

Microchipping is recognised as a permanent method of identification that greatly improves the identification and traceability of dogs and their owners. It is generally argued that owner's details are more easily accessible. Likewise, the dog is more easily traceable in the event that it strays.

The Petsitters Alliance in their document 'Breeding Healthy Dogs: A road to hell paved with good intentions' [2] recently described the idea of compulsory dog chipping as "both onerous and unenforceable". According to the Petsitters Alliance there are many difficult questions that need answering, including:

Is it likely that the despicable and cruel (we strongly agree with the characterization) puppy farms will chip their puppies. We think not! Or, worse, they may use false chips.

How is an unchipped puppy/dog discovered? By a vet? Will it be compulsory for vets to report unchipped dogs? Will vets want to "betray" owners who they like?

If you care about this issue please spare a few moments to take part in the consultation. So few people take part in public consultations that it can be easy to change the result of the consultation. See our 'TAKE ACTION' page for more details of how to respond.

Endnotes: