Ms Sarah Lynch:

I can respond to the Senator's question on deceased dogs. Unfortunately, I do not have enough information on the artificial insemination topic. Perhaps the representatives of the ISPCA can speak to that. On deceased dogs, it is a requirement under the microchipping of dogs regulations that deceased dogs are removed from the register or registered as deceased. It is something that people might not be aware of. In the turmoil and grief of losing a dog, it is not the first thing on an owner's mind to contact the database and register the dog as deceased. It is something that could be communicated a lot more. It is something that we would like to see databases being a bit more proactive on, as part of looking at the quality of the data that are in these databases and what we can do to ensure that those data are of top quality.

Part of this is checking whether the dogs are still alive or existing on the database. It can lead to ensuring microchips are not being manipulated or used for another purpose. What is to say that, if a dog dies, its microchip number might still be used if it is not be verified in any other way? In Australia there is a system run by database companies. A yearly reminder is sent to owners on the date their dog was registered asking whether they still have the dog, if their telephone number, email address or address changed and whether the dog is deceased. It is as simple as clicking a button. If someone is going through the emotional turmoil of losing a dog, it is just a reminder to click a button and it is done. There is no having to call when the person is not there, no sending an email and no searching for the certificate and causing upset. It is all automated. This is something we would definitely encourage. We would love to see more done to clean up the data.