Microchipping and registering your cat or dog

Registering your cat or dog in NSW is a two-step process. The first step involves ensuring that your cat or dog is microchipped by 12 weeks of age or before being sold or given away.

The second step involves lifetime-registering your cat or dog with a local council before it is six months of age. This enables you to have your cat or dog desexed before registration, so that you can pay the lower lifetime-registration fee. If you have any questions about the microchipping and registration process, contact your local council.

MICROCHIPPING

• What is a microchip?
• When and why should my cat or dog be microchipped?
• Who can microchip a cat or dog, and what is the cost?
• What happens if I fail to have my cat or dog microchipped?
• Does my cat or dog have to wear a collar and tag if it has been microchipped?
• What should I do if my cat or dog's microchip number is not listed on the NSW Companion Animal Register?

REGISTRATION

• When and why do I have to register my cat or dog?
• How do I register my cat or dog?
• How much will it cost to register my cat or dog?
• Are there any refunds for lifetime registration fees?
• What will happen if I fail to register my cat or dog?
• How do councils use registration fees?

MICROCHIPPING AND REGISTRATION

• Are there any exemptions from microchipping and lifetime registration requirements for cats and dogs in NSW?
  
• I am moving from another state/territory to NSW, do I need to microchip and register my cat or dog?
  
• I am moving to Australia and will be living in NSW. Do I need to microchip and register my cat or dog?

MICROCHIPPING

What is a microchip?

As included in the Companion Animals Regulation 2008, a microchip is a subcutaneous full duplex electronic radio transponder. Modern microchips are about the size of a grain of rice and are implanted beneath the animal's skin between the shoulders. No personal information is stored on the microchip, only the unique identification number.

Approved microchips for use in NSW must comply with ISO:11784 and ISO:11785. ISO means International Standardisation for Organisations. A microchip scanner is used to read the animal's microchip number, which is usually a 15-digit unique identification number. However, some older cats and dogs microchip identification number may contain letters as well as numbers.

An implanted microchip does not cause any ongoing pain or discomfort to your cat or dog. The microchip does not require a battery or any maintenance and is designed to last the life of your pet.

When and why should my cat or dog be microchipped?

In NSW, all cats and dogs, other than exempt cats and dogs, must be microchipped by 12 weeks of age or before being sold or given away, whichever happens first.

If you buy a cat or dog in NSW that is not microchipped, you should report this to a local council for investigation and further action, if appropriate.

All cats and dogs must be listed on the NSW Companion Animals Register (the Register). Following the implantation of the microchip, a Permanent Identification Form (P1A form) is completed confirming the identification information that is to be entered on the Register.

The Authorised Identifier (Vet or qualified implanter) or local council enters the identification information onto the Register and issues the owner with a Certificate of Identification.

Entering identification information on the Register before the cat or dog is lifetime registered helps in reuniting lost or stray animals with their owners.

The information recorded on the Register is also used by authorised officers to enforce the Companion Animals Act 1998. An authorised officer includes an authorised employee of the local council such a Ranger or any NSW Police Officer.

If you sell or give your cat or dog away or your contact details change, you must notify your local council within 14 days.

Who can microchip a cat or dog and what is the cost?

Only an Authorised Identifier can microchip a cat or dog in NSW. An Authorised Identifier may be a vet or a person who has completed the relevant qualification. For example, an animal welfare organisation employee, a vet nurse, a pet grooming business operator, an employee of a pet shop or a breeder.

Some local councils offer low cost microchipping services for residents. Contact your local council to find out more.

Microchipping is usually included in the purchase price of a cat or dog. However, if you need to microchip your cat or dog (because someone has given you the animal or the animal is not microchipped), you should shop around for the best price, as there is no set cost for microchipping.

What happens if I fail to have my cat or dog microchipped?

If you fail to have your cat or dog microchipped when required to do so, you may be issued with a fixed penalty notice for $165 or a court may award a maximum penalty of up to $880. Where your dog is a restricted dog or a declared dangerous dog you may by issued with a fixed penalty notice for $1,320 or a court may award a maximum penalty of $5,500.

Does my cat or dog have to wear a collar and tag if it has been microchipped?

Click here for information on whether or not your cat or dog has to wear a collar and tag if it has been microchipped, as well as other information on responsible pet ownership.

What should I do if my cat or dog's microchip number is not listed on the NSW Companion Animal Register?

If you have had your cat or dog microchipped in NSW, the Authorised Identifier must either enter the information onto the NSW Companion Animals Register and issue you a Certificate of Identification, or send the information to your local council for data entry within three days of implanting the microchip.

The local council must enter the information onto the NSW Companion Animal Register within seven days of receipt of the information and issue you a Certificate of Identification. If you have not received your certificate or you have concerns about the accuracy of the information on the NSW Companion Animals Register, you should take any documentation you have to your local council.

REGISTRATION

When and why do I have to register my cat or dog?

All cats and dogs, other than exempt cats and dogs, must be registered by six months of age. The registration fee is a once-only payment, which covers the cat or dog for its lifetime in NSW, regardless of any changes in ownership. You are encouraged to have your cat or dog desexed before registering it.

Discounted registration fees apply to desexed cats or dogs. Having your cat or dog desexed prior to registration helps to reduce straying, fighting and aggression and antisocial behaviour, such as spraying to mark territory. It also helps to reduce the number of unwanted pets born each year. See Information for Cat Owners in NSW brochure and Information for Dog Owners in NSW brochure for more information.

Registration fees are used by councils for providing animal management related services to the community.

How do I register my cat or dog?

You must register your cat or dog with your local council. You will need to present:

• the fee
• a signed Lifetime Registration (R2) Form
• a copy of your cat or dog's Permanent Identification (P1A) Form or Verification of Existing Microchip (M1) Form completed by an Authorised Identifier, or Certificate of Identification.
• proof of desexing, if applicable. This may take the form of a Certificate of Sterilisation or receipt containing microchip number from a Vet or a statutory declaration from a previous owner stating that the cat or dog has been desexed and is permanently incapable of reproduction.
• any other document entitling you to a discount, for example, a pensioner concession card or recognised breeder identification.

Your local council will issue a Certificate of Registration to you after your cat or dog is registered. The Certificate will include the registration information recorded on the NSW Companion Animals Register. If your contact details change you must notify a local council within 14 days of the change as penalties may apply. Keeping your contact details up to date will assist in the return of your cat or dog should it become lost or stray.

How much will it cost to register my cat or dog?

Current lifetime registration fees (valid for the cat or dog's lifetime) are as follows:

*An eligible pensioner is a person in receipt of the aged pension, war widow pension or disability pension. If you are unsure whether you are an eligible pensioner, please contact your local council.

**For information in relation to greyhounds registered under the Greyhound Racing Act 2009, please click here.

Are there any refunds for lifetime registration fees?

No. In NSW, registration is required once only and is valid for the animal's lifetime. As a result, it is not possible to obtain a refund if, for example, you have your animal desexed or your animal dies after you register it.

What will happen if I fail to register my cat or dog?

If you fail to register your cat or dog when required to do so you may be issued with a fixed penalty notice of $165, or a court may award a maximum penalty of up to $880 or up to $5,500 if your dog is a restricted dog or a declared dangerous dog.

How do councils use registration fees?

Councils send the registration fees they collect to the administrator of the NSW Companion Animals Fund. The administrator of the fund then reimburses the majority of the funds to councils which is to be used for providing companion animal related services. These may include ranger services, pound facilities, dog refuse bins, educational and other companion animal-related activities.

MICROCHIPPING AND REGISTRATION

Are there any exemptions from the microchipping and lifetime-registration requirement for cats and dogs in NSW?

If you own a cat born before 1 July 1999 and ownership has not changed, a working dog used for tending stock on a rural property or a greyhound currently registered under the Greyhound Racing Act 2009, you do not need to have it microchipped or registered with your local council. However, it is recommended that you have your cat or dog microchipped for its protection.

Assistance animals must be microchipped and lifetime-registered but there is no registration fee payable.

If action has been taken against you regarding the behaviour of your cat or dog under the Companion Animals Act 1998, any applicable exemption is lost and your cat or dog must be microchipped and registered.

A nuisance cat or dog, a restricted dog and a declared dangerous dog, including a working dog that has been declared a dangerous dog, must be microchipped and registered.

Any cat or dog not otherwise required to be microchipped or registered that is taken into the custody of a council pound or animal welfare organisation must be microchipped and registered before being returned to its owner (even if it is less than six months old).

I am moving from another state/territory to NSW, do I need to microchip and register my cat or dog?

If you are moving to NSW and are going to be here for three months or more, you must have your cat or dog microchipped (if this has not already been done), entered on the NSW Companion Animals Register and lifetime registered with your local council. This must occur within three months of moving to NSW. If you do not know your local council in NSW, click here.

If your cat or dog was microchipped outside NSW or before 1 July 1999 (when the Companion Animals Act 1998 came into effect), you will need to provide proof of microchipping to your NSW local council. You will need to present a Verification of Existing Microchip (M1) Form completed and signed by a Vet or other Authorised Identifier and a completed Permanent Identification (P1A) Form.

Registration in another state or territory cannot be transferred to NSW.

You may also have listed your cat or dog on a privately-operated national microchip database. These databases are not linked to the NSW Companion Animals Register. The NSW Companion Animals Register is a NSW Government database used to record registration information for cats and dogs that reside in NSW.

You should contact the operators of any databases on which your cat or dog is listed to update your contact details on your cat or dog's microchip record:

I am moving to Australia and will be living in NSW. Do I need to microchip and register my cat or dog?

You must identify and register your cat or dog with your local council within three months of your arrival in NSW.

Cats and dogs being imported to Australia must meet Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) import conditions, including the requirement for microchipping before import to Australia. This is to minimise the risk of exotic diseases being introduced into Australia.

Australia is free from many animal-related diseases found in other parts of the world. For information on Australian import conditions for cats and dogs, click here.

For further information on microchipping and registration requirements in NSW, contact your local council on your arrival in NSW. If you do not know your local council in NSW, click here.

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