Pet devices and the law: microchips, welfare and failing safe

The five needs are the floor, and a device meets none of them

Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence if a person responsible for an animal does not take such steps as are reasonable in all the circumstances to ensure that the animal's needs are met to the extent required by good practice. Five needs are set out: a suitable environment, a suitable diet, the ability to exhibit normal behaviour patterns, appropriate housing with or apart from other animals, and protection from pain, suffering, injury and disease. The section came into force on 6 April 2007 in England and on 27 March 2007 in Wales.

Read the device catalogue against that list and the mismatch is obvious. A feeder contributes to one need, partially, by delivering a portion at a time. A camera contributes to none; it observes. A tracker contributes to none; it reports a position after the fact.

That is the right way round. The duty sits with the keeper and cannot be delegated to a product, which is why a device is a convenience layered on a routine that already works rather than a substitute for one that does not.

Microchipping, and the entry that nobody updates

All dogs in the United Kingdom must be microchipped and registered by the time they are 8 weeks old. In England, cats must be microchipped and registered by 20 weeks. The fine for an animal that is not chipped when it should be is up to £500, and the fine for one that is chipped but not registered on a compliant database is also up to £500.

The part that lapses is the registration, not the chip. Government guidance puts the duty plainly: you are responsible for keeping your pet's microchip information up to date, and it gives moving house as the example. A chip that leads a vet to a database entry with a disconnected phone number and a previous address does exactly nothing.

The practical rule is to treat the microchip record the way you treat a driving licence address: updated at the point of the move, not when it next matters. It is free or near enough with every database company, and it is the single highest-value five minutes in this whole category.

1. Confirm the chip number and which database holds it, and write both down
2. Check the registered address and telephone number are the ones you use today
3. Update the entry on the day of a house move, not afterwards
4. Keep a second contact on the record for someone who is usually reachable
5. Repeat the check annually, because database companies merge and change

Where devices create new risks

Every mains-powered device adds a cable to a room an animal is unsupervised in. A chewed low-voltage lead is a damaged device; a chewed mains lead is a serious injury, and a puppy or a young cat does not distinguish between them. Cable routed behind furniture, clipped to a skirting and entering the device from above is the version that survives.

Button cells and small lithium cells in sensors, tags and collars are the second hazard, and swallowing one is a veterinary emergency rather than a wait-and-see. Battery compartments that need a screwdriver are a feature, not an inconvenience, and loose spares belong in a drawer rather than a bowl of odds and ends.

The third is the feeder itself. A hopper that bridges and stops dispensing leaves an animal without the meal the device was bought to deliver, and the failure is silent unless the device reports it. Dry food that matches the manufacturer's stated size range, a hopper that is not filled to the brim, and a weekly check of the mechanism remove most of it.

A device either fails safe or it fails badly

The question to ask of anything you leave running is what it does when the power goes, when the broadband drops and when the subscription lapses. The three failures are different and only the first is obvious.

A feeder on mains power with no battery backup stops dispensing in a power cut and loses its schedule; the same feeder with cells fitted keeps its clock and keeps feeding. A camera that records only to a server shows you nothing during an outage and nothing afterwards; one with a local card records through it. A cat flap that unlocks on power loss lets an animal in; one that locks shut does not.

That last choice is worth making deliberately rather than discovering. Decide, for each device, which failure state you want, and buy the one that does it. A device that fails to the state you chose is a device that has not really failed.

Before you leave the house

Water first, because no device on the market supplies it and it is the need that goes wrong fastest. Then the gate, the window restrictors and the door latch, because physical containment is what actually keeps an animal in and a device only tells you it failed.

Then, and only then, the hardware: the hopper is filled and the mechanism has been turned by hand, the backup cells are in, the camera is pointing where you believe it is, and the chip record carries a telephone number you will answer. On a 9-hour day that is about 5 minutes of checking, and it is the part of this category no purchase can replace.

Before you buy

• Confirm the microchip is registered and the telephone number on it is one you answer
• Update the database entry on the day of a house move
• Route every mains cable behind furniture and clip it to the skirting
• Choose battery compartments that need a tool, and keep spare cells in a closed drawer
• Turn the feeder mechanism by hand weekly and keep the hopper below the brim
• Fit backup cells to anything whose schedule matters
• Decide, for each device, what you want it to do when power or broadband fails
• Check water, gate and latches before checking any app

Questions readers ask

Can a tracker replace a microchip legally?

No. Microchipping and registration are compulsory for dogs by 8 weeks and for cats in England by 20 weeks, with fines of up to £500 for not chipping and up to £500 for not registering. A tracker is a removable, rechargeable accessory and carries no identification duty, so it sits alongside the chip rather than instead of it.

What exactly are the five needs?

Under section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 they are a suitable environment, a suitable diet, the ability to exhibit normal behaviour patterns, appropriate housing with or apart from other animals, and protection from pain, suffering, injury and disease. The duty is to take reasonable steps to meet them to the extent required by good practice.

What happens to my feeder in a power cut?

It depends on whether it has cells fitted. A mains feeder with no backup stops dispensing and usually loses its schedule, so the first meal after power returns may not arrive. The same unit with batteries keeps its clock and its portions. Fitting the cells is a few pounds and removes the whole failure mode.

Are small batteries really a serious hazard?

Yes. A swallowed cell from a tag or sensor is a veterinary emergency rather than something to watch, which is why compartments that need a tool to open are worth preferring. Keep spares in a closed drawer and replace them where the animal is not, rather than on the kitchen floor beside it.

How often should I check the microchip record?

Once a year, and always on the day you move house. Government guidance makes keeping the information up to date the keeper's responsibility and names a house move as the example. Database companies also merge and rebrand, so an annual check that the record still exists where you think it does is worth the five minutes.

Sources

1. legislation.gov.uk — Animal Welfare Act 2006, section 9: duty of a person responsible for an animal to ensure welfare, and the five needs — checked 2026-11-03
2. GOV.UK — Get your dog microchipped: 8 weeks for dogs, 20 weeks for cats in England, fines up to £500, duty to keep details up to date — checked 2026-11-03
3. legislation.gov.uk — Security Requirements for Relevant Connectable Products Regulations 2023, Schedule 1: passwords, security contact and defined support period for connected products — checked 2026-11-03