This is the Government’s press release about the promised Central Microchip Portal in March 2024 :-
gov.uk/government/news/more-…
Our petition, asking where has the Central Portal gone?
petition.parliament.uk/petit…
Supported by
@RSPCA_official @The_Blue_Cross ,
@Battersea_ and
@DogsTrust
FYI:
THE PROMISE:
In March 2024,
@DefraGovUK announced the Central Microchip Portal. For those of us who have followed the failures of the UK’s pet microchipping system for years, this felt like a genuine breakthrough. A single, publicly accountable portal. One login for vets, wardens and police. Instant, 24/7 access to all microchip records across every approved database. A lost pet, a microchip scan and registration check, a phone call a reunion within the hour.
The current system has 25 separate commercial databases with incompatible logins and no joined-up access. Authorised users searching for a chip match, find the database and then the problems begin with most databases working 9-5 Monday to Friday, some databases have call centres who take messages, some databases still relying on phone messaging or emails, the person with your lost dog or cat can wait days or even a week for a response from them. Animals go unidentified. Owners go without answers. The Central Portal was going to fix that.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
A new government came in during July 2024. The Central Microchip Portal was quietly dropped. No full explanation. No debate. No alternative announced at the time.
Now we are being told that the Association of Microchip Database Operators — known as AMDO — will lead the development of a replacement. AMDO represents just 10 of the 25 self-regulated databases. Their proposed solution is described by Defra as industry-led and commercially driven.
Why this alarms me and many other pet owners:
The organisations that have profited from the fragmented system are now being handed control of designing the unified one. That is not reform. That is the industry writing its own rules.
A “commercially driven” solution means that access to microchip data — data that exists because the law requires our pets to be chipped — could be restricted behind paywalls or subscription models. Vets, wardens and police may have to pay for access they were promised for free. Pet owners may eventually pay simply to have their own animal’s data found. And AMDO represents fewer than half the databases. What happens to the animals registered on the other 15?
— What legal authority does AMDO have to design and operate what is effectively a public safety infrastructure?
— Can the government guarantee that no pet owner, vet, warden or police officer will be charged for accessing microchip data through any new system?
— Will all 25 databases be required to participate on equal terms?
— Is Defra satisfied that an industry body with commercial interests is an appropriate lead for a system underpinned by animal welfare legislation?
Microchipping is the law. The reunification system that makes it meaningful should be a public service — not a commercial product. We were promised that. We deserve that.
It’s a big ask but we need to find, before 5th June, just over 80,000 more signatures for the petition to save the promised Central Microchip Portal which was virtually ready to be produced, please sign and repost, we desperately need your help:
petition.parliament.uk/petit…
#MakeChipsCount #PetTheftReform #Petition #AnimalWelfare #PetAbduction #TheftByFinding