Identifying

All cats (and dogs) aged 3 months and over must be registered with the local council.

Contact your local council to register your cat. Once you have paid your registration fee, council will give you a tag to attach to your cat’s collar.

You should use an elasticised collar or safety collar that breaks away if the cat gets caught on something. The collar should be firmly fitted - you should be able to fit two fingers comfortably between your cat's collar and its neck. It is a good idea to place a bell on the cat’s collar too, to alert any animal that your cat may try to stalk and catch.

Registration must be renewed by 10 April every year.

As of 1st May 2007, it also became a requirement that all cats and dogs registered with a council for the first time must be microchipped prior to registration. Microchipping ensures your cat can still be identified even if its collar and tag comes off.

Note that desexing tattoos (found in the left ear of cats that have been desexed) do not provide unique identification.

More about pet registration…

Reasons to identify your cat

1. You are legally required to register and identify your cat. But aside from this, it is important to register and identify your cat so it can be returned to you if it is lost or impounded.
2. Very few cats entering pounds and shelters are identified, so most can’t be easily returned to their owners.
3. This contributes to the unnecessary euthanasia of tens of thousands of cats every year.
4. Cat nuisance issues cause much concern in the community. Tagging cats helps councils differentiate between owned and unowned cats and deal with stray cat nuisance issues.
5. If your cat is found wandering off your property and is not identified, it can be seized and impounded. You may have to pay a fine when reclaiming it from the pound.
6. Registration fees provide important pet related services in your community, such as cat pound facilities, animal control and education programs on responsible pet ownership.

More about microchipping…

What is microchipping?

A microchip is a tiny computer chip about the size of a grain of rice, which has an identification number programmed into it. The microchip is inert, has no battery and uses no energy, and will last for the life of the animal. The microchip is injected under the animal’s skin between the shoulder blades and is a simple procedure, which causes no side effects. To identify the animal, a scanner that reads microchip numbers is passed over the animal’s skin. The scanned number can then be checked against a register, which provides details of the animal’s ownership.

What are the benefits of microchipping?

A microchip provides a permanent form of identification which can quickly reunite owners with lost or injured pets. This could literally save your pet’s life – sadly, many pets that end up in pounds and shelters are not identified, and have to be euthanased because their owners cannot be located. Microchips cannot be removed or fall off like the traditional collar and tag. Additionally, pet owners receive a discount on their registration fee if their cat or dog is microchipped.

If a pet is injured and a veterinarian needs to contact the owner urgently, a microchip enables them to quickly identify the owner and contact them to allow the owner to make decisions on the animal’s treatment.

How do I have my pet microchipped?

Only authorised implanters (such as registered veterinarians who have completed the required training) can implant microchips.

You can have your pet microchipped at a vet clinic, or at a local council microchip day (contact your local council for details on upcoming events). The cost of microchipping will generally be recovered within the first few years if you had previously been paying full registration fees (ie due to the discount for microchipped pets). It also means you can have confidence you will get your pet back if it is lost and ends up in the council pound or injured and at a vet clinic.

What else should I know about microchips?

Owners of newly microchipped animals will receive a certificate of identification from the licensed registry where information is kept.

It is important to check the information on the certificate and make sure it is accurate. In future, if your residential or contact details change, it is vital that you update the information on the microchip registry.