As of the 6th April 2016, every non-certified working dog older than 8 weeks of age MUST be microchipped by the keeper of that dog in the UK and registered on one of the authorised commercial databases.
 

Certified working dogs must be microchipped by the age of 3 months.

In most cases, the keeper is the owner of the dog, but in some cases the keeper may not be the owner, e.g. in relation to assistance dogs, new-born puppies or where the dog resides in a different house to the owner.

If your dog is found without a microchip, you are given a period of time that you must comply, after which a £500 fine will be issued if you have still not microchipped your dog.

If you sell or pass your dog onto someone else, you as the previous owner must register the new keepers details against the microchip. You must also inform the database you are using if your dog passes away.

Dogs MUST still wear a collar and tag with the contact details of the keeper of the dog when in public (please see our Identity Tags and the Law article for more details).

A veterinary surgeon may exempt a dog from being microchipped on the grounds of the health of the dog (please talk to your vet about this).

If you have brought a dog into the UK from abroad, your dog will have had to have a pet passport issued. As part of the pet passport scheme, your dog will have been microchipped. If you are living in the UK, you must ensure the microchip is registered with a UK microchipping database to comply with the law.

For more information about the law of microchipping, please see the following information:

The Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations 2015