Updating your details
Your details shouldn’t need to be updated very often; only if you move home or change your primary contact details. Databases will charge a small administration fee when you need to change your details. Often there’s an affordable ‘premium’ upgrade option which will allow you to change your details as many times as you’d like throughout the dog’s life.
How you update your details depends on the provider you choose and where you have your dog microchipped. If you are unsure which microchip database your pet is registered on, you can visit any of the UK microchip databases and use the microchip checker on their homepage to determine which database you need to contact. Most of the databases offer an online option to update your details, you will simply need your microchip number and the unique security password you were provided with at the point of registration.
Police officers and local authority officers have powers to seize a dog to check that it is microchipped. If it is found not to be microchipped, or with incorrect details stored on the database the officer can serve a notice requiring you to put this right within 21 days. Failure to comply could lead to a level two fine (currently up to £500).
If a stray dog is found to have a microchip, the local authority, vet practice or animal welfare organisation will contact the national 24 hour database to find the owner's details. The owner can then be contacted and reunited with their dog.
Microchips are not GPS devices. They remain inactive until scanned by a microchip reader which will display the unique identifying number. This allows the person scanning your dog to contact the registering database and retrieve the keeper details the microchip is registered with.