AQW 54877/11-16

Mr Samuel Gardiner MBE
Ulster Unionist Party
Upper Bann

Tabled Date: 26/02/2016
Answered On Date: 10/03/2016
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what (i) proportion; and (ii) number of dogs are microchipped.

Answer:

Dog control is legislated for here by the Dogs Order 1983, as amended by the Dogs (Amendment) Act 2011. Councils implement this legislation and provide statistics to my Department regarding its operation. These statistics are collated on an annual basis.

In 2015, 137,216 dog licences were issued by Councils. Of these, 127 dogs were exempted from the requirement to be microchipped. Therefore 99.9% of licensed dogs here are microchipped, which is 137,089 dogs.