The chips are down . . .

Owners of half the city's menacing and dangerous dogs have not yet microchipped the animals, a year after Government regulations made it compulsory.

About 250 dogs, some of which are dangerous breeds and some of which repeatedly roam or have minor biting records, have not yet been chipped, according to Palmerston North City Council records.

(...)

"We're having to spend a large amount of time carrying out this regulation and have been relying on the co-operation of owners. After writing to them and not getting a response we now have to take the next step and knock on all doors."

Did you know that in Britain they removed registrations fees as they found that more money was wasted in trying to get people to register their dog, exactly what's going on here... That applies to Ottawa, Canada too.

Microchipping did not replace registration. It was a one-off procedure, and the dog's details were recorded in the national dog database. The data was used to find owners when dogs were picked up wandering or behaving dangerously.

Why doesn't microchipping replace registration?? The yearly fee is astronomical! It's not as if the dog gets a WOF !

Registering a dog that is not desexed costs a first-time owner $97 a year in Palmerston North. This drops to $49 a year when the owner has a good record of paying registration fees and the dog is desexed.

And you wonder why people don't register their dogs ?!?