Dog owners are being urged to take advantage of free microchipping for their pet as a new law comes into force.

From today, it is compulsory for all dogs over the age of eight weeks to be fitted with a microchip, which stores contact details of the animal’s owner.

Recent figures suggest 1.16m dogs across the UK still aren’t microchipped, despite a 70 per cent increase in the number pets being fitted with them in the last month.

If a dog without a micro-chip comes to the attention of the council, its owner may be served with a notice requiring the dog to be microchipped, and may face criminal prosecution and a £500 fine if they do not comply with the notice.

However, Medway Council will not be going out of its way to enforce the new law.

A spokesman said: “We won’t be going house to house or patrolling in parks, but if we do find a stray dog who hasn’t been chipped and he gets claimed, we will offer to chip their dog.”

Last year, the council launched a free, at-home microchipping service which resulted in the community wardens fitting 77 dogs with the devices. The council also microchipped 264 dogs at its Day for Every Dog events at parks and recreation grounds.

In 2015/16, the community wardens dealt with 724 stray dogs in the Towns, 293 of these were taken to the kennels and 431 were scanned for microchips on the street and returned to their owners straight away.

Cllr Rupert Turpin, who is in charge of community wardens, said: I urge residents with dogs without microchips to contact the council and book an appointment for the free service as soon as possible. There is no excuse not to as it’s free and wardens can deliver the service within the home.

“Since the setting up of the Medway Council Stray Dog Service Facebook page we have seen lost dogs reunited with their owners more quickly, but the process will be even more efficient once microchipping becomes a legal requirement, hopefully resulting in many more easily identifiable dogs.”

• To book free dog micro-chipping or for more information call 01634 333333.
• Join the Medway Council Stray Dog Service Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mcstraydogs