Dog owners face £5k fine for forgetting to add two details to pet’s collar

When you’re rushing but need to exercise your pet, it can be easy to overlook crucial items at home as you dash them around the block.

However, dog owners could face themselves a hefty £5,000 fine for forgetting one vital item when taking their dog out in public.

Under the Control of Dogs Order 1992, owners must guarantee their dog is wearing ID whenever they’re brought out in a public environment. It must feature two details – the owner’s name and address, either engraved directly on the collar or on an attached plate or tag.

A statement from D for Dogs states: “What to put on dog tag UK law? You are legally required to put your name and address on your dog’s tag.

“A house number and postcode are all that is needed to specify an entire UK address, so it is perfectly acceptable to put just those details and your name.

“This can be useful for smaller tags where there might not be space for your full address.”

Whilst it’s not a legal requirement to include a contact number, the dog experts strongly recommend owners to include this simple detail too.

The statement continues: “The law states that only your address is needed but this is so outdated. If your dog gets lost, is someone going to write you a letter? No. The name and address legal requirements are very outdated now.

“We all communicate by phone and it is much more instant, which is exactly what is needed. So definitely get your phone number engraved on the tag, even though it is not required by law.

“Of course, the phone numbers you should put on the tag is the one you are most likely to be contactable on.

“It used to be the home telephone number but for most people these days it would more likely be their mobile phone number.

“We also feel it is a good idea, if your dog is microchipped, to state this on the dog tag so that any authorities know to scan your dog.

“So you could simply add something like “I am chipped” if there is room on the tag for extra engraving.

“Don’t be afraid to have a custom dog tag which includes any information you think is useful.

“A personalised dog tag can include details about microchipped status, dietary or health issues and more.”

Nevertheless, not all pet owners support the legislation, leading a Reddit user to question: “If you don’t put a tag on your dog’s collar… why?”.

In reply, one user explained: “I had a dog get her toenail stuck in the tag ring one time, also the jingling is annoying.

“I moved to collars with their name and our phone numbers stitched on them. Honestly, I rarely have my dogs collars on, I would hate for them to be playing and get injured or choked.”

Another user commented: “We don’t want the tag to get caught anywhere and potentially cause issues. Our girl has a round collar to not mess up her coat, so slip-on tags don’t work terribly well with it.

“She does have a Fi (a GPS tracker) on her collar, so we should in theory be able to use it to track her down if she gets lost.”

A third user commented: “I heard of horror stories of the tag getting caught and resulting in strangulation.

“That can also be the case when a dog is playing with a collar on in general (dogs jaws getting caught). My pup doesn’t wears nothing when inside the house and a harness for walks/trainings.”