Buster, this year's Canine Hero at Crufts, with his good friend Endal, and members of their families. More on Crufts inside.

Editorial June-July 2005:

AS usual in New Zealand we seem to be sitting on the fence and just letting microchipping happen, instead of taking the reins and firmly itemising the points that must be accommodated in any new legislation.. I am not against microchipping if it is done correctly and good records kept; and if when a dog goes missing there is matching done of any new registrations in any part of the country so that it can be found and returned to its owner whether stolen or strayed.

If the dog has any serious medical condition that should also be noted, so that if found it can be given what it needs until its owners are contacted. But I am against it if it is going to be so badly handled that nobody is capable of reading the scanners or searching for a microchip properly, or if the pounds have to borrow from the SPCA, or both have to borrow from the MAF every time a new dog is found or handed in - especially if they also have to borrow a person capable of searching for the microchips, reading the scanners and even just knowing when to replace the battery (hopefully a few innocent dogs won't lose their lives before someone says "Ooooops the battery is dead!").

I know this seems a little extreme, but hey, this is a country that lets Bangkok choose who is given an entry Visa and who is not, and where you phone corporations and get India-on-line!

There are a lot of questions to be asked and answered, but I have a feeling we are not going to be told anything that matters until it is too late to do anything about it. It seems that we are a country of "thinking up ideas and putting them into law to try, and if they don't work just bring the old law back or make a new one to try (the drinking age, the prostitution laws, the 'give way to the right' law, and others). Discuss it and think it through first? ... Whew, too hard mate!

I want to know: Is microchipping for all NEW registrations, as we were first informed, or is it a blanket requirement for all dogs of all ages?

Or is it going to be up to local councils to decide how to interpret 'NEW registrations' (as many interpretations as councils)?

Are all local pounds, SPCAs, humane societies, refuges, rescue organisations, etc going to be required to own multi-scanners and have at least one staff member capable of operating them in a professional manner? If not, the system is a shambles to begin with!

What is the cost going to be? When I first inquired about 2-3 years ago it was "$12.50 - $15". This of course was the 'get the public used to the idea of paying twice' price! At that time a microchip cost about $6. Now, the next money tree is ready to bear fruit and a microchip costs about $15 from the distributors. Vets, councils, private microchippers, MAF, and others are all hoping to be the official government microchippers and prices are currently charged at anything from $35 to $120. This includes registration on a database.

If local bodies are to oversee regulations in their own areas, this must mean that microchipping and registration on a database is INSTEAD OF, rather than AS WELL AS, traditional registration? If not, then councils are indeed simply double dipping!

Are councils going to be allocated more staff to police the new laws?

Actually, what new laws are there to police? If they didn't bother before they are certainly not going to bother now! There are no new rules - just double payrolling to set in place!

Are dogs that are already microchipped (or ones that are bought from overseas, already microchipped) going to have their numbers duplicated to the government database, or are they going to be required to have a government brand of microchip fitted and pay yet again? I am hoping that there is not a choice made in favour of a 'cheap' brand that is not of international quality. This would be likely to mean that 'cheap' scanners could be bought that only worked with the specific brand of microchip. Unfortunately that would also be putting all imported and 'quality microchipped' dogs at risk. If they were lost or stolen their number would not come up on the 'cheap' scanners and they could be destroyed or sold to a new home.

With all these facts to date, I am sure there are more that need to be considered. So if you have any questions that you want to ask the government on their intentions just email me at ziggy1@k9magazinefree.com and I will send them to our representatives. Overseas readers - if you have had problems in your country caused through microchipping mistakes and wrong decisions made, just let me know also. It just seems to me that those in power here can not see the potential problems because the branches of the money tree are getting in the way. - Elezabeth (More on microchipping in letters)