Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to set up a national database for microchip companies to input data received for dogs and cats.

We are not proposing to create a single cat and dog microchip database. Database operators are commercial enterprises which offer a range of services and provide choice for pet owners.

A consultation seeking views on changes to the Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations 2015 closed on 20th May 2022 and we are analysing the responses. The consultation sought views on creating a single point of access facility for approved users to quickly search compliant databases for a microchip record. We intend for this to also apply to cat microchip records.

This is a devolved matter and these developments relate to the situation applying in England.