Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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55. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to update the Microchipping of Dogs Regulations 2015 to ensure that all dog breeders must microchip and register their dogs prior to sale and that only dogs that are registered and chipped be allowed to be sold online. [34474/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Every dog must be microchipped in accordance with the Microchipping of Dogs Regulations 2015. Section 7 of the Act sets out distinct obligations for the supplier and for anyone buying or acquiring dogs. These obligations apply to all sales, including those conducted online .

The possession, movement, sale or supply of an unchipped dog is an offence, and may be prosecuted under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.

A technical update to the existing legislation is at an advanced stage, however these obligations will remain unchanged.

The safety and welfare of pet animals was one of the concerns behind the introduction by my  Department of regulations on the sale and supply of pet animals last year, and which came into effect in February of this year.

The legislation requires any person who sells or supplies more than five pet animals in a calendar year to register with my Department. It also requires sellers or suppliers of pet animals (including Dog Breeding Establishments registered with local authorities) to include their registration number on any advertisement (including on-line advertisements), the age of the animal, the country of origin of the animal and, in the case of dogs, to provide the unique microchip number.