At today’s meeting of Council a motion was carried to permit the National Pet Register to set up a temporary and heavily subsidised mobile microchipping facility in Bundaberg on 4th August 2012.
The background report read:
An invitation has been received from the National Pet Register for Council to participate in the annual tour of their mobile microchipping service. The service will be in our region on 4 August, 2012. Microchipping is available for cats and dogs at a heavily subsidised cost of $25 that would normally cost in the order of $60 to $80.
This service is provided at no cost to Council and the only support that is requested is for access to a suitable site and assistance with promotion of the event. Consultation has been held with Mark Proud to discuss their site requirements which is an area to park the Winnebago and erect three marquees. The Winnebago is air-conditioned and they will need access to power. Bookings for this service are undertaken online together with payments being made prior to the event.
I have discussed this proposal with Andrew Marland, from Vetcross Bundaberg and encouraged him to advise the other local Veterinary practices to contact Council if they have any concerns. Andrew has stated that he has no concerns as the persons whom normally access these services are not their regular clients.
This service has the potential to encourage cat and dog owners to microchip their pets by removing the financial barrier. This is beneficial to our community in being able to identify the owners of pets so they can be reunited with their lost animals. Supposedly a dear pet of yours, say a guinea pig, goes missing for years and survives to become a full grown abyssinian guinea pig, you’d would hardly recognise it after the changes it goes through. Hence, this is where the tags prove to be useful.
It also provides an opportunity for Council to have a presence at this event and promote responsible pet ownership.
An appropriate venue for this to occur has not yet been decided, Council has many possible venues that would suit including the Riverside Parklands, the Showgrounds or any one of our major parks with a power supply. Alternatively it could be located at a park where dogs are encouraged such as North Lions Park which has a dog off-leash area adjacent to it.
The following motion was carried by a vote of 10:1.
‘That Council support the National Pet Register’s Annual Microchipping Tour by providing a suitable site with access to power at no charge on 4 August 2012.
– Further, that Council agree to assist in the promotion of the event and to provide an Officer to attend to promote responsible pet ownership.’