PETS: What vets need to do
Microchip identification - dogs, cats and ferrets
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Type of microchipA microchip must first be implanted in the animal to identify it. We do not specify a particular type or brand of microchip to be used but ISO (International Standards Organisation) Standard microchips meeting specification 11784 or Annex A to 11785 are generally used. These are also the microchips for which vets in Europe are most likely to have compatible readers.If the microchip does not conform to either of these ISO Standards, it may not be able to be read by a standard microchip reader when the animal is checked at the time of travel to the UK or when in a European PETS country. This means that the pet owner will need to provide their own microchip reader (at their expense) to enable the microchip number to be read successfully. |
Fitting a microchip
An animal must be microchipped before it is vaccinated against rabies. Check that the microchip number can be read before and after it has been fitted. Record the microchip number on the vaccination record. This must be done from the microchip reading and not on the basis of any accompanying documentation.
Reading a microchip
We recommend that you obtain a suitable microchip reader before offering the PETS service to clients so that animals can be properly identified when the following procedures are carried out. If the microchip cannot be read, you should not proceed until the problem is resolved. If you cannot read a microchip, contact your local Animal Health Divisional Office to ask if they have a different type of reader you can borrow.
Microchip failure - re-chipping
See Q3 on Microchipping and identification Q&A for more details.
Once the microchip has been fitted the pet must be vaccinated against rabies:
Page last modified: January 23, 2007