 |
Microchip Legislation “Ridiculous” Mount Linton Station, Hill Stock Manager Kevin O’Connor is taking a stand and refusing to microchip his team of 18 farm dogs under what he calls money making legislation From July 1, all newly registered dogs in New Zealand will be required to be microchipped. Yesterday, farmers found out they would not be exempt from the legislation. Mr O’Connor said the legislation was absolutely ridiculous. In total, Mount Linton had 100 dogs, belonging to 11 workers on the station. The dogs never left the station so microchipping was unnecessary, he said. “Farm dogs don’t cause any trouble in the township”, he said To microchip dogs at a price between $50 and $120 would be a costly exercise for farmers, Mr O’Connor said. A major concern was that farmers may end up paying for dogs to be microchipped that might not end up as working dogs, he said “You can’t tell when a dog’s going to be suitable for a farm until it is about 7 months old. And up to one third (of dogs) are destroyed”. Federated Farmers Southland president David Rose said southern farmers were outraged that working dogs would not be exempt from the microchipping legislation. “The reaction from farmers is disbelief. I think farmers had been quietly confident the rural sector would be exempt form this legislation,” Mr Rose said. Federated Farmers national president Charlie Pedersen said Federated Farmers had not done “a good enough job” to get farm dogs exempt form the law. The federation was considering further protest action and a mass demonstration at Parliament would be on the cards if protests were not successful in getting farmers exempt from the legislation, he said
|
|