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New one on me and picked up in the local rag. Yeah yeah, ignorance of the law etc however I did not realise that dog tags must have the owners name and address on them and must be on a collar and not somehow attached to a harness. I knew they had to have a collar and tag but didn't know the bit about the owner's name and address
Looks like maximum fines for non-compliance have just been increased as well. Just a heads-up for the equally ill-educated 😀
How big would a dog tag have to be if the owner's name and address should be readable? And the fact it is a legal requirement to have said mutt chipped, I don't think this is true.
We only have my phone number and postcode of the house on our dog's tag.
On a different subject, I did read recently that it's a good idea not to have the dog's name on the tag either - that way any potential dog-napper won't know its name and be able to pretend to be its owner. A small thing but potentially effective.
I have never known a dog tag stay on a collar for more than a couple of months.
Although, this one has because she doesn't wear the collar, only a harness.
I don't think it's a bad idea to have a phone number written somewhere but marker pen on a harness would be better imo.
What I am a bit sick of is politicians making laws that, if not solely, are designed in most part at least to bring them in increased revenue.
What I am a bit sick of is politicians making laws that, if not solely, are designed in most part at least to bring them in increased revenue.
I can't see this being much of a money spinner. It's just a typically I'll thought through, ineffective piece of legislation that'll have zero impact because shitty dog owners that are probably the target of it just won't bother.
Someone's been following Facebook clickbait links! 😆
surname, house number and postcode on ours, along with mobile number. Def not dog's name !
Enough info if dog gets lost and found (he is chipped also obviously), but hopefully not too much to assist possible dog theft.
Thing is none of this is remotely new. Been in force since 1992, just seems to be going up on someone's agenda for some reason.
@ThePilot - not that I give a rat's arse but legally speaking even if they wear a harness they must have a collar and tag also.
From the RSPCA
Collar and tag The law (Control of Dogs Order 1992) states that your dog must wear a
collar and a tag when in public. The tag must have your name and address on; your telephone
number can be helpful too. Without a collar it is possible that your dog may be seized and
treated as a stray. You should always keep the contact details on the tag up to date.
And link to the legislation - no need to wade through it. It's the 2nd paragraph.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/901/made
Neither of my dog's have an address on the tag and I can't recall ever seeing one but there are also people who have had £50 on the spot fines for non-compliance. Ludicrous I agree hence my post raising awareness as I'd be pretty pissed off with some overly eager copper doling me out a fine accoridngly.
Never understood the dogs name things - we could call our dog any name we fancied and the daft bugger would still ignore us! 🙂
It doesn’t have to be on a collar, the law was updated it can be on a harness.
It doesn’t have to be on a collar, the law was updated it can be on a harness.
Interesting. Link to local rag story as follows which says it must be a collar. It of course would not surprise me if that bit was wrong. It was the address bit that I didn't realise though...
I cannot see the Control of Dogs Act has been updated either. Do you have a linky?
More unenforceable clickbait pettiness from a punitive nasty little small-minded country we live in.
I'm enjoying the shoddy way this is being reported
Dog owners could be hit with unlimited fine or even JAIL for using a harness instead of collar while walking their pets
Err no. You can walk your dog with a harness, but its should still have a collar with a tag on it. Its not difficult. The law isn't new either.
How big would a dog tag have to be if the owner’s name and address should be readable?
About the size of a 10p coin.
Anyone who has dogs for any length of time ends up catching other people's mutts who are enjoying unsanctioned freedom, and based on my experiences from the past 25 years I would say
PUT THE ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER (MOBILE AND LANDLINE) ON A LARGE STURDY BRASS TAG
It's daft to have to take the loose dog home with you because you have no idea that it lives two doors away from where you found it (!), nor does it speed things up to be ringing a phone that nobody answers because, say, they're out looking for the dog!
Ideally a dog would have *both* a house-collar with a tag - so if they sneak out from home they're covered - *and* a harness with the tag somewhere easy like the shoulder blades (if you've tried to read the collar tag of a wriggling, possibly nipping, strange dog, you'll understand).
Chips are a great backup option, but address & phone tags are what make the difference between getting your dog back asap so you can get on with your day, and worrying like hell for ages until you get a call from someone with a scanner, ... assuming you kept the address in the chip database up to date. And of course if you're on holiday, you can put a temp tag on.
Interesting. Link to local rag story as follows which says it must be a collar
That’s clickbait. The dog just needs owner identifiable information, it doesn’t have to be on a collar.
Sorry I was mistaken it wasn’t updated, I was mixed up with the chip law.
https://www.indigocollartags.com//blockquote >
This type of tag is brilliant - never wears out, we've had one for over 10 years and it's on it's second owner 🙁
The dog just needs owner identifiable information, it doesn’t have to be on a collar.
The Control of Dogs Act says otherwise:
1) Subject to paragraph (2) below, every dog while in a highway or in a place of public resort shall wear a collar with the name and address of the owner inscribed on the collar or on a plate or badge attached to it.
What Susan Tulley's dog collar looks like now will break your heart
You really think that doesn’t cover a harness with the same information on it?
You really think that doesn’t cover a harness with the same information on it?
A harness is not a collar so no I do not think a harness is included in the law.
It’s a form of restraint with the same information on it, you’re not going to be find or taken to court because if doesn’t go around the neck.
The problem with having the details only on a harness is that they're only any use if, obviously, the dog is wearing it when it escapes/wanders off, which probably won't be the case when it slips through an accidentally unshut gate/door, or finds a little hole under a fence, or any similar doggy escape tactic.
Ours has a collar with a tag, and on the tag is my mobile number and MrsIHN's phone number. The collar never comes off, but when we're walking him he's on a harness. So, not strictly in accordance with the law, but it'd have to be a pretty bored bobby/magistrate to give us any grief over it.
I've never seen a dog harness that doesn't go round the neck, they just sit a bit lower and have straps in other places as well
One of our dogs has name and postcode the other will loose a collar within hours of wearing it.....
the other will loose a collar within hours of wearing it…..
How? If the collar's on properly (i.e. snug enough that you can get two fingers underneath it there's no way the dog should be able to get it off)
Gotta wonder who is policing this
There have been cases in the papers of people beating and abusing their dogs and even raping them and all the penalty is they banned from keeping animals for X number of years or a small out of proportion fine of a couple of hundred pounds or not even that.
Claiming theres a £5K fine for the wrong harness, or not having your name and address on a tag is a ludicrous suggestion to make.
As above its a clickbait article, usually put out by the tabliods in order to have people read the story and they get some revenue from it.
Personally I try to avoid them.
Personally I try to avoid them.
Avoid what? Untagged dogs or tabloids? 😁
Here's a top tip for those dog owners not aware of other bits of the same law-
It’s against the law to let a dog be dangerously out of control anywhere, such as:
in a public place
in a private place, for example a neighbour’s house or garden
in the owner’s home
The law applies to all dogs.
You know, just for next time it's chasing a cyclist barking at it threatening to bite their ankles, or tearing around a shared use path diving under people's wheels or on people's kids.
If your name and address isn't on the collar then nobody will be able to send you the summons.
I cannot see the Control of Dogs Act has been updated either. Do you have a linky?
I don't care sufficiently to trawl through legislation, but there's seemingly a 2006 act which might cover it?
here are also people who have had £50 on the spot fines for non-compliance.
Who? [citation needed]
I find this hard to believe. It is (as presented) a clause in a 30-year old law revising a 90-year old law that I wouldn't expect your average copper to have even heard of. It took a quarter of a century after that for microchipping to become mandatory and they came about around the same time. There would surely have to be extenuating circumstances to have your (sorry) collar felt over not having an address on a tag, unless you were being cautioned by P.C. Bastard.
Aside from anything else this is a security risk, I wouldn't want my address broadcast to any Joe **** who wants to "give him a pat," dog theft is rife enough already.
PUT THE ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER (MOBILE AND LANDLINE) ON A LARGE STURDY BRASS TAG
I don't have a land line, not even in lower case.
Or, for that matter, a dog. I do have a friend with a chihuahua though, a "large sturdy brass tag" would make it look like a 90s hip-hop artist.
Print it on a small tag in the tiniest of small print sized lettering. It adheres to the law, just its impossible to read without access to a magnifying lens.
If your name and address isn’t on the collar then nobody will be able to send you the summons
🙂
I don't feel this got the recognition it deserved!
Didn’t know that, Never had to use a collar or a lead on my dog but I do stay in very rural Galloway, he was chipped though.
surname, house number and postcode, along with mobile number
This. Fits easily - not the dogs name. Also don't loop it through the D on the collar because you WILL eventually clip the lead into the ring not the D and it will pull off. Clip it onto the buckle instead.
Neither of my dog’s have an address on the tag and I can’t recall ever seeing one but there are also people who have had £50 on the spot fines for non-compliance. Ludicrous I agree hence my post raising awareness as I’d be pretty pissed off with some overly eager copper doling me out a fine accordingly.
1. Given the workload in courts, it seems very unlikely that anyone would find it in the public interest to test whether a collar and a harness are interchangeable within the legislation, but it seems the mischief the legislation was designed to address can just as easily be addressed with a harness.
2. Responsibility for enforcement rests with local authorities (dog wardens) not the police.
3. I'd be rather amazed if anyone has actually received a £50 fine for this out the blue. Seems more likely to be a response to repeatedly ignoring the dog warden's advice or telling them to keep their nose out!
How? If the collar’s on properly (i.e. snug enough that you can get two fingers underneath it there’s no way the dog should be able to get it off)
Easily if his neck is as wide/wider then his head. I'd have to throttle our dog to stop his collar slipping over his head.
I got my cats chipped. Now they can eat imported catfood...
Here’s a top tip for those dog owners not aware of other bits of the same law-
It’s against the law to let a dog be dangerously out of control anywhere, such as:
in a public place
in a private place, for example a neighbour’s house or garden
in the owner’s home
The law applies to all dogs.You know, just for next time it’s chasing a cyclist barking at it threatening to bite their ankles, or tearing around a shared use path diving under people’s wheels or on people’s kids.
I've just spoken with Barney, he says if you stop jumping red lights he'll stop chasing you...
I’ve just spoken with Barney, he says if you stop jumping red lights he’ll stop chasing you…
Lol!
Dogs have to be chipped? When did that come in? It was just an option when ours was a pup I'm sure.
Not sure she has a collar tag, fell off years ago and only had a phone number anyway.
Dogs have to be chipped? When did that come in? It was just an option when ours was a pup I’m sure.
About 5 or 6 years ago.
he was chipped though.
And fitted with K&N’s and a big zorst?
About 5 or 6 years ago.
Oh right, our hound is 12, not a surprise it past me by then. We got her done anyway as a pup.
Whatever next?
he was chipped though.
And fitted with K&N’s and a big zorst?
Does he have a flamer kit fitted under his tail?
Just my OH's telephone number on both of ours.
Our surname, both mobile numbers and postcode on ours. No house number - as mentioned above, if someone shows an interest in petting them they could easily be looking for personal details on the tag. Definitely no dogs name on the tag for similar reasons. They wear the collars 24/7 as they have been known to sneak out of the front door when I nip out to grab something out of the car.