Great Britain mandates government-standard pet identification via microchip plus database registration. You must make sure your dog or cat is fitted with a microchip and registered on a database.
Deadlines differ by species and nation: All dogs in the UK must be microchipped and registered by the time they’re 8 weeks old. and If you live in England your cat must be microchipped and registered by the time they’re 20 weeks old. (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: cat microchipping is optional). Enforcement: You can be fined up to £500 if your dog or cat is not microchipped when they need to be.
The chip must be fitted by a professional: Your pet’s microchip must be fitted by a trained professional. Separate from the chip, If you have a dog, it must still wear a collar and tag with your name and address when in a public place.
This is the government pet-identification/registration regime (Dir1) that underpins the travel rules in gb_pet_import_rules.
Source: pdf-parsed/gov-eu-landing/govuk_dog_microchip.txt (GOV.UK, landed 2026-08-12).
Claims (verified C1 substrings of source_file)
You must make sure your dog or cat is fitted with a microchip and registered on a database.All dogs in the UK must be microchipped and registered by the time they’re 8 weeks old.If you live in England your cat must be microchipped and registered by the time they’re 20 weeks old.You can be fined up to £500 if your dog or cat is not microchipped when they need to be.Your pet’s microchip must be fitted by a trained professional.If you have a dog, it must still wear a collar and tag with your name and address when in a public place.