Equine Microchipping & Registration
Horses are lent, leased and grazed away from home. They need identification!
While a significant number of horses, especially retired thoroughbreds, and a growing number of sport horses, may already have a microchip and be on a breed or competition horse database, a crucial step in identification is storing owner (‘guardian’) contact details in a place that is secure but widely accessible.
The NZ Companion Animal Register (NZCAR) is New Zealand’s microchip database for lost and found animals. It is accessible by over 900 ‘Approved Users’, such as Veterinary clinics, SPCA, Animal Control Officers. These approved users can scan for a microchip and search the number on the NZCAR to access the guardian contact details.
If a lost horse is found, having a microchip number and guardian details registered on the NZCAR significantly increases the chance of a happy reunion.
Horse identification is not just about emergencies, identifying horses is important in ’peace time’ too.
We encourage veterinarians to recommend microchipping and registration to their equine clients. Horse-side NZCAR registration is possible in less than 60 seconds. ASK US HOW
EQuiChip Community Events
In 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle highlighted how important it is to easily and quickly identify animals and trace their ownership through a central database. Whilst this message is more mainstream for dog and cat owners/guardians – this is not the case for most leisure/local competition horses and ponies.
Companion Animals New Zealand has developed EQuiChip to safeguard horses/ponies who may be at risk due to not having any form of permanent identification.
EQuiChip are fun events that can be organised with our help, or by local communities.
Our objective is to ensure all equines are permanently indentifable, and we aim is to get as many of the leisure/unregistered horses and ponies micro-chipped and registered on the NZCAR as possible. This will also ensure good coverage if or when mandatory microchipping and registration comes about in future.
EQuiChip is a community event – supporting our own equestrian community to do the right thing for our horses. After all - we all want to improve welfare outcomes for animals and their owners.
Watch our 3 minute video from EQuiChip Hawkes Bay and learn how important (and easy) equine microchipping and registration is.