26.3.21

Licensing Your Dog ? Many People Have Their Dogs Microchipped But Do They Actually License Their Dog?

The story goes like this. You find a dog. It looks a little shaken but none the worse for wear. Despite finding it wandering around aimlessly on its own, it looks relatively well cared for so you hold on to the hope that it is only lost, not abandoned. You managed to cajole the pup to you and secure it. You take it to a vet to be scanned for a chip and hurray, you find that it has one. Happy that you can reunite the dog with its rightful owner, you key the microchip number into AVS' microchip number enquiry link, only to find that the chip has not been registered because the dog is not licensed. 

Image taken from Lost & Found Facebook


Now imagine that you are the owner of that lost dog. You have done everything right up to that point. You adopted a dog and microchipped it. Loved it with all your heart. Made sure it wanted for nothing. One day, you did not realise that the door was not closed properly and your dog took it as an invitation to go exploring. So used to being led and watched over by you, it did not realize that it had wandered off far enough that it did not know the way home. Some kind soul found the dog and took it to the vet to have it scanned for a chip. If you had licensed your dog with the AVS, a simple mouse click would close this story with a happy ending. If you had not, then you might never know how this story ends. 


Using a microchip scanner, scan the dog to check if he is microchipped. 

This seems to be a common story in Singapore. Flip through the classifieds and you will find many pets with microchips being posted in the lost and found section. Many pet owners think that just microchipping their pet is sufficient. However, there is little point if the microchip is not registered somewhere with the owner's contact details. The microchip registry can also store other important information, for example, whether your dog has a medical condition so whoever finds it can be made aware and care for it accordingly while they wait for you to come pick your dog up. In Singapore, the microchip is registered when the dog is licensed with AVS.

It used to be that licensing a dog was troublesome and not the cheapest thing to do. The license was only valid for a year, or a few years, and you had to renew it at the end of each period. In September 2020, to encourage more pet owners to sterilize and license their dogs, AVS introduced a one-time license for sterilized dogs. This means that, for a low one-time payment of $35, a sterilized dog can get a license that is valid throughout its life. No more having to worry about the license lapsing because you forgot to renew it! 

We are not saying that licensing a dog means that a lost dog will always be found and returned. We are in no way saying that you are free to let your dog wander about without a care as long as it is licensed. Besides, the rule on keeping a dog leashed and properly supervised in public spaces still applies. However, we all know that some dogs have the heart of Indiana Jones or Houdini and sometimes they manage to get away from us no matter how much we try to control them. Licensing a dog just makes it much easier to reunite a lost dog with its owner when found rather than never knowing the fate of your lost dog even if it has already been found. We just think that it is sensible and worthwhile to pay $35 once for peace of mind knowing that you have a better chance of reuniting with your dog should it ever get away, though we hope this never happens!

Licensing a dog also helps with traceability when there is an outbreak of disease, for example, rabies. Think of it as the TraceTogether of pets! Though it does not work quite the same way, it serves the same purpose in contact tracing in the event of a disease outbreak.

All in all, licensing a dog has many pros and no cons. And it is even so simple and affordable to apply for a license now. To find out more about licensing a dog in Singapore and what to do when you have lost or found a pet, visit AVS website at https://www.nparks.gov.sg/avs/pets/owning-a-pet/getting-a-pet/getting-a-pet.


Written by : Samantha Yap