20 March 2013

Free dog microchipping service moves to Wednesdays

From Wednesday 3 April, the Christchurch City Council’s free dog microchipping service will be offered from 11am – noon each Wednesday.

Currently offered each Friday, the microchipping service will be suspended over the Easter break (Friday 29 March – Tuesday 2 April). This means that the final Friday for owners to have their dog chipped for free is 22 March, before the service resumes the following month on its new schedule

Inspections and Enforcement Unit Manager Gary Lennan says the process is quick and easy, and recommended for dogs of all ages.

“Even if your dog has been registered for quite a while, we still encourage owners to bring them down and get them chipped if they aren’t already. Each chip is only about the size of a grain of rice, and the process of inserting it into the scruff of your dog’s neck is as painless as an injection and only takes a couple of seconds.

“Once your dog is chipped, Animal Control officers can distinguish it from any other dog in New Zealand,” Mr Lennan says. “Upon finding a lost dog with a unique microchip identification number, the Council can scan it, check its details on the National Dog Database and hopefully reunite it with its owner as soon as possible.

“The Dog Control Act 1996 now also requires all dogs to be microchipped within two months of their initial registration – which we think is good news for the City. There is a fine if owners fail to do so.

“We hope owners take us up on this opportunity for free micro-chipping every Wednesday, because it’s a great way to avoid the heartache of a lost pet at a later date.”

The service is offered at Christchurch City Animal Shelter at 10 Metro Place, Bromley, and is for all dogs registered and resident in Christchurch. No out-of-district dogs will be microchipped by the Council.

“We strongly discourage owners from bringing any unvaccinated dog to the Animal Shelter for microchipping,” Mr Lennan says. “It is very risky to bring dogs to the shelter that have not been vaccinated against parvovirus.”

Veterinarians can also microchip dogs at the owners’ expense.

Anyone with questions about the microchipping process is encouraged to contact the Animal Control Team on 941 8999 for further information.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Arguably Reassuring: Inspector-General Finds GCSB "Arguably" Legal

Of the 88 individuals:

• 15 cases involving 22 individuals did not have any information intercepted by GCSB.

• another four cases involving five individuals were the subjects of a New Zealand Security Intelligence Service warrant and the GCSB assisted in the execution of the warrants. The Inspector-General is of the view that there were arguably no breaches and the law is unclear.

• the Bureau only provided technical assistance which did not involve interception of communications, involving three of the individuals, so no breach occurred.

• the remaining cases involved the collection of metadata, and the Inspector-General formed the view that there had arguably been no breach, noting once again that the law is unclear.
More>>