Dogs must wear collar and ID tag in public places or face upto £5000 fine!

Did you know that dog collar & pet ID tags are legal requirements in the UK?

It is true and many people are surprised by this fact.  As a retailer of luxury dog collars, we often hear statements like, ‘my dog doesn’t like wearing a collar’ or ‘she always chews them, so we don’t bother putting one on her’.  These excuses won’t cut it if your dog is found to be without a collar and means of owner identification in a public place by a dog warden. 

In the UK, the Control of Dogs Order 1992 states that any dog in a public place must wear a collar with the name and address (including postcode) of the owner engraved or written on it, or engraved on a tag.  

You can be fined up to £5,000 if your dog does not wear an identification tag.

There is no requirement to put your dogs name on the tag and we advise against this, as dog theft is a real danger and if the thief knows the name of your dog this may help them pass on the dog to the unsuspecting new owners.

Certain dogs are exempt from having to wear a collar with a dog tag. They are:

• Any dog registered with the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

• Any dog while being used in emergency rescue work.

• Any dog while being used on official duties by a member of Her Majesty's Armed Forces, HM Customs and Excise or the police.

• Any dog while being used for driving or tending cattle or sheep.

• Any dog while being used for the capture or destruction of vermin.

• Any dog while being used for sporting purposes.

• Any pack of hounds.

For further information, please see Article 2 of the Control of Dogs Order 1992.

As of the 6th April 2016, all dogs must be microchipped by the time they are eight weeks of age and registered with a database compliant with the regulations, such a Petlog as well as wearing a dog tag in public.