Agent - Frequently asked questions

This help page is for NZCAR authorised agents - Enquirers, Enquirer Plus and Implanters.
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Become a NZCAR authorised implanter
Change of ownership | Rehoming
Downloading a paper form for in-clinic use
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Become a NZCAR agent
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Find out moreCreating an account | Login
- Head over to the NZCAR website, sign in page at animalregister.co.nz/Security/login
- Select ‘I’ve lost my password’
- Enter your organisations email address and click ‘send reset link’
- Once this email has been received, follow the link in the email and set a new password for your organisations account. Remember to advise others in your organisation who may use these log in details.
NB: Passwords must be at least 10 characters and include at least 3 of the following:
- Uppercase characters
- Lowercase characters
- Numbers
- Punctuation
You cannot use a password that has been used previously. The NZCAR is home to a significant amount of personal data and these rules are the most recent good-practice recommendations for ensuring good security.
At the moment, you will need to contact [email protected] to ask them to set up a new user account for you.
Please include the following information in your email
- Organisation Name
- The new users first and last name, and their email address
Yes. You’re welcome to just have a single organisational login such as [email protected]
We would highly recommend that you change your password each time a staff member leaves to ensure that there is no misuse of a shared login.
At the moment, you will need to email [email protected] to ask them to update your email address
Please include the following information in your email
- Organisation Name
- Your first and last name, and the email address.
Searching the register
We introduced contact for quick access to the name and contact phone numbers for a lost pet, eliminating the need to scroll through the form, and making the phone numbers clickable hyperlinks for mobile phone users
Edit allows you to access all the animal details if something needs to be updated for a guardian, or if you wish to check the notes about the animal.
This is not currently possible in our system. You can however make important notes on the animal details. There is a field titled ‘Behavioural, physical, & medical notes’.
No! In our updated system, from your dashboard, you can search the last 5 or more digits. This will bring up all animals which have the same 5 digits at the end of their microchip number. You can then narrow down based on the animals name, species etc.
Here is a quick video about using this function.
Agents: Looking up a microchip on the NZCAR
Click the above link to view a short 'how to' video on searching microchip numbers on the NZCAR.
New registrations (Implanters only)
Paper forms have many disadvantages including data entry mistakes, delays in registration, not to mention the environmental impact of all that paper.
We’ve endeavoured to make it as easy as possible for you to register online, and will be open to any feedback and suggestions to make registration even easier or faster.
We strongly encourage implanters to add registrations directly in the NZCAR. This will
- mean the animal is registered immediately
- save your clients time
- save your staff time
- eliminate many data entry errors do to illegible forms or human error
- eliminate lost forms.
We have made it easy for direct entry
- choose 'minimum detail' to create a new registration in less than 45 seconds.
- automatically generated email encourage your client to add more details online
- use a barcode scanner to enter the microchip number in less than 1 second with 100% accuracy
- Soon (mid 2022) you will have the ability to print an NZCAR certificate for your client
If you still would like a form, you can download one here. Please note this should NOT be sent to the NZCAR team as they will not be entered.
Not at this stage
Minimum registration is a subset of details which contains just enough information to create an account for the guardian, have a contact number and identify the animal.
When you save the minimum detail form, an email will be sent to the guardian, encouraging them to login and complete the remainder of their details. This will have the added benefit of making the guardian aware of the register and the information that is held on it from day one.
If your team are entering the minimum details only, ensure you advise clients to expect an email from us. This email will detail to them how to log in and complete the remainder of their details.
Full registration is a complete set of details about the animal, as well as the guardians complete contact details and secondary contact details.
This option is still available for those of you who would prefer to capture everything at the time of registration or for a client who may not have an email address.
Implanters are encouraged to complete the ‘Full Detail’ registration in this case. Please advise your client that they will need to contact the NZCAR support office every time they want to update their records.
Yes, they can set up their own NZCAR account and register an animal using a credit card. Because of our new account process they can add and manage many animals from one dashboard after they have created their account.
There are two ways of handling this.
Some large rescues are continuing with their own paper forms that accompany the animal from the shelter, the vet and then back again. These forms are then entered by the rescue and the animal registered to themselves (the rescue will then use the ‘transfer’ function when the animal is adopted out).
Another option is to ask us to set up a desexing Account for the rescue (e.g ABC Cat rescue desexing campaign April 2021) and give the vet clinic and the rescue the ability to both add registrations using that account.
Making Changes (Including ownership - Implanters only)
Consent is to give permission for something to happen.
When an animal is first registered onto the NZCAR, the guardian enters into an agreement with the Companion Animal Register. This agreement is why it is imperative that the registered primary contact, is the only person who can give consent for changes to be made in relation to their account.
Examples of changes include:
- Updating their phone number
- Updating their residential address
- Transferring an animal from or to their account
When agents make any of the above changes, they are prompted to acknowledge they have permission to do so.
Persons who claim to be the owner/legal owner/legal guardian of an animal should be advised that you will first need to speak with the registered guardian in order to make any changes to that animals registration. If they do not wish for you to do this, no changes can be made to the animals registration at that time. In these situations, encourage the person to reach out to our support team who can look into their specific situation and discuss how best to proceed.
Please refer to our Terms and Conditions or contact us if you have any further questions.
It is VERY important that you do not use the "Edit" function to overwrite the old guardians details, as this will make changes to ALL animals registered to that guardian.
Find the animal you are looking to change ownership for on the NZCAR, and use the "Transfer" button to transfer the animal from one guardian to another, or from a guardian to an organisation.
If the animal has not previously been registered, you are able to complete a registration as soon as they are microchipped. Under the guardian details, select the box “Register to my organisation”. This will assign the animal to your organisation.
If the animal is already registered, you can use our "Transfer" function to list your organisation as the guardian of the animal.
In most cases, this will simply be an issue of guardians not keeping details up to date, and will have a perfectly innocent explanation. In any case we don’t expect that you should get involved in any dispute. Please see the advice we have provided in the link below.
Ensure that you gain permission, from the person presenting the animal, to share their details with us - NZCAR (if they request for the animal to be transferred to themselves).
For further guidance on these types of situations, please see the advice provided by the Vet Council here.
In most cases, this will simply be an issue of guardians not keeping details up to date, and will have a perfectly innocent explanation. In any case we don’t expect that you should get involved in any dispute. Please see the advice we have provided below.
Ensure that you gain permission, from the person presenting the animal, to share their details with us (NZCAR).
For further guidance on these types of situations, please see the advice provided by the Vet Council here.
The new register now associates all of a guardian’s companion animals to one account / email address, so changing a primary contact email address on one animal will affect all animals associated with that email address.
As a safeguard against implanters inadvertently making changes to all animals associated with an account when they mean to only make changes to one, we have locked the email so it cannot be changed by implanters.
Guardians are able to change their own email address using their NZCAR login. They are also able to make this change by phoning our support office on 0508 LOSTPET.
Agents using LostPet
You will not currently be able to create lost pet listings from your Implanter, Enquirer Plus and Enquirer account. However, you can still utilise the service! Simply log in via an existing guardian account that you have OR create a new guardian account using another email address available to you.
*Creating a lost pet listing from an Implanter, Enquirer Plus or Enquirer account will be reviewed for future development. If it is a feature you would like to see or if there is another feature you believe would help YOU get lost pets home, please contact our friendly support team and let us know!
Creating a found pet listing is easy! You do not need to log in OR create an account to do this. Found listings can be made for any species.
Simply head to LostPet, then click 'Report found pet'. If you need to make any changes to your 'found pet listing' or to remove it, please contact our friendly support team.
Due to the restrictions that Facebook impose for businesses, it is not possible for those with a business Facebook account, to share listings in the same way as to a personal account. However, it is still easy to share!
Simply find the listing you wish to share, click view listing, then copy and paste the URL to your Facebook post. This will share the full listing tile (image - if there is one, and title) and you can add in wording for your post.
LostPet should be the first place for your team to look, list and share, when you find lost/found animals.