Mr. Conor Dowling:

I would suggest more oversight of the implanters who are providing this information. When we discover these issues, there seems to be little recourse as to what we can do to address them. Each implanter is registered and identifiable. There is normally a code associated with them on the registration so they can be identified. There should be some sort of mechanism whereby, if there is a consistent problem with the information they are providing, it should be queried and questioned. Last week there was a discussion about whether non-veterinary personnel should be allowed implant dogs. There are some restrictions on who can do that. Commercial breeders are not allowed implant chips. The person cannot have any interest in the dog. They cannot be the owner or related to the owner. There are certain limitations. However, there are still too many people with the right to implant dogs. Even with some vets, there are issues with the information they provide. We have queried what can be done about this and at the moment there does not seem to be much of an answer. That suggests we should perhaps make a complaint to the Veterinary Council, which seems a very extreme step. Surely it should be possible to raise this concern before it gets to that stage.