The Isle of Wight Council has issued more fines to pet owners who have failed to microchip their dog than any other Council in the country, figures have revealed.
Ahead of the second anniversary of the compulsory microchipping law, Pets at Home submitted Freedom of Information requests to every city, county, district and borough council in the UK to see which areas were fining the most dog owners. While it found the number of dog owners being fined varied, what was most interesting was the disparity in fines around the country.
For instance, the 34 dog owners fined by the Isle of Wight Council were fined an average of £25 each. However, this cost is small when compared with the 6 Hull dog owners who were fined an average of £447 apiece and the £1,932.50 fine for a single dog owner in London’s Hounslow.
Pets at Home’s research found that 103 dog owners have been fined by 16 councils for failing to microchip their 4-legged friend since it became compulsory in April 2016. Collectively, these individuals have been fined £18,802 which makes the national average fine £182.54 per dog owner.
The government introduced compulsory microchipping to make tracking down missing dogs easier and to make it simpler for local authorities to identify owners of dangerous dogs. Estimates suggest 1 in 8 dog owners hasn’t yet microchipped their pet, meaning hundreds of thousands of animal lovers are breaking the law, possibly accidentally, and as such face possible high legal costs.
Dr Maeve Moorcroft, head of pets at Pets at Home, said:
“The results of our Freedom of Information requests are somewhat surprising; and what we found most of note was how much the fines charged by councils varied across the country.
“Microchipping is a simple and cheap procedure that doesn’t hurt a dog in any way and it’s vital that responsible pet owners obey this law. We’d urge dog owners to take steps to get their canine microchipped, firstly for the health and safety of their four-legged friend, and secondly to comply with the law and avoid potentially hefty fines.”
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A full list of the councils which have issued fines and prosecutions, and the sum of the fines, can be found below:
| Council name | Number of dog owners fined | Average amount each owner was fined | Number of dog owners who have been prosecuted |
| Isle of Wight Council | 34 | £25 | 0 |
| Coventry City Council | 19 | £159 | 19 |
| Sheffield City Council | 12 | £148.75 | 12 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire Council | 7 | £312 | 7 |
| Hull City Council | 6 | £447 | 6 |
| Northumberland County Council | 6 | £247 | 6 |
| Blaby District Council | 3 | £268 | 6 |
| Plymouth City Council | 3 | £416 | 5 |
| Birmingham City Council | 2 | £130 | 3 |
| Hertsmere Borough Council | 2 | £150 | 2 |
| London Borough of Brent | 2 | £312 | 2 |
| Preston City Council | 2 | £345 | 2 |
| South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council | 2 | £90 | 2 |
| Durham County Council | 1 | £564.56 | 1 |
| London Borough of Hounslow | 1 | £1,932.50 | 1 |
| Manchester City Council | 1 | £180 | 1 |
