Microchips: which national database hosts the record if the pet moved between countries?
Our dog has an ISO standard microchip implanted in Hungary according to this page:
This transponder has a country code according to ISO 3166 from
Hungary, the manufacturer is "Felixcan S.L." and the product is
granted as injectable. The transponder is ISO conform.
In 2013 she had a rabies vaccination in Hungary, and this is visible in the hungarian database. After we moved with her to the UK. This year we are travelling again so she got a vaccination in the UK on the 1st of February. We got the stamp in her passport, and have been told that the microchip has been updated. Now I am trying to check the public online databases and I don't see the recent update. From here I found out that every country has its own database(s). UK has the Petlog, that one knows nothing about our microchip. This very nice page queries almost all local databases, and it finds nothing, although tells the UK database has some communication issues.
At the UK clinic we had the rabies vaccination I could only talk to the receptionist so far, and she could not help. I am worried and want to be sure that we can cross the border with no problem. What is the best way to find this out? Also this brings up a more generic question: how this whole system works? If the Vet inputs data, where it will be recorded, how these databases exchange data between each other, how the international database Europetnet collects the data, and how often? And how the border authorities check the database?
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We travelled with no problem, and as it might be useful for others, I summarize the experiences. First, confirming Jason C's comments, the vet enters the data in whatever manufacturer specific database. Consequently it won't appear in any national database, neither the UK nor the Hungarian one in this case. I don't know then how the authorities access this, in our case they didn't. We crossed by the DFDS Seaways ferry, and in Dover someone took a quick look on the paper passport of our dog, and that's all.
As I mentioned we were worried about the rabies vaccination, because she had it more than 3 years before the travel. We went to the vet who renewed the vaccination. According to certain guides around the internet, if more than 3 years have passed since the last vaccination, 2 injections necessary with a minimum 2 weeks between the injections, and 3 weeks after the second one the vaccination will be valid for travelling. This prooved to be not true: we got only one injection, and we could travel 27 days after.
I have had a few pets come into the hospital with foreign microchips (though not from Hungary) and the process goes like this.
The chip does not switch companies - i.e if your chip was registered with 24petwatch it will stay with them forever.
Each chip database has a specific code/number at the beginning so when scanning the chip each company can then tell you what database to contact to obtain your information.
This may work differently over on your side of the world as so many countries are close together however every chip database should be able to find where the chip originated from.
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