Residents in properties owned by Wandsworth council will need to get their dog micro-chipped under new plans announced by the council last week and backed by the RSPCA.
Wandsworth says it is brining in the new rules in an effort to tackle problems caused by strays and prevent dogs causing a nuisance to other tenants. Existing tenants will have 12 months to ensure their pet is chipped.
The plans are being backed by the RSPCA which says it chipping is “useful for returning dogs to their owners, but we’ve never been able to assess how useful it is in terms of anti-social behaviour. Wandsworth will give us some key data and will allow us to convince other local authorities that this approach does work.”
Wandsworth already encourages owners to micro-chip their animals and runs regular micro-chipping sessions. An RSPCA spokesman said the council “has an excellent record in terms of stray dogs” adding that “for quite a few years it’s been one of the leading local authorities with regard to stray dogs and other dog related issues. We’re fully supportive of this latest measure.”
leader of Wandsworth council Edward Lister said his authority was “delighted that the RSPCA has given us its support. . Hopefully when other local authorities see how successful the scheme is, they will introduce something similar.”
