Current status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 January 2016
To ask the Scottish Government whether responsibility for paying the fee for the registration of a microchipped dog that is to be rehomed from April 2016 will lie with the former owner, the new owner or the organisation rehoming the dog.
The person responsible for microchipping/registering a dog given up for rehoming, or updating contact details relating to it, will depend on the age of the dog at the time of transfer.
Under the Microchipping of Dogs (Scotland) Regulations 2016, from 6 April 2016 the keeper of a dog that is older than eight weeks will be responsible for ensuring that it is microchipped and that accurate keeper details are registered and maintained on a database. Transferring an un-microchipped dog over eight weeks of age will be an offence. The new keeper, including rehoming charities, is responsible for updating any change in keeper details.