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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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    [1/2] I don't know the answer to your whole question, but the databases themselves are all proprietary. There isn't some unified federal/global agency that has all the info. Many different companies manufacture chips and they each have their own databases on their own system with their own ways of handing it and registering your pets, and none of it is standardized. The AAHA (and there may be others) created a tool to look up info ...
    – Jason C
    Commented Feb 16, 2017 at 23:51
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    [2/2] ... across multiple databases with explicit cooperation from various companies, sort of like a microchip Google. A tool like that is about as close to a national/global registry that you'll get. When the vet inputs data, they're just using the forms/systems provided to them by the manufacturer of the microchip. E.g. my cats have a HomeAgain brand chip. The vet gets ID numbers from that company, fills out their forms, and the info ends up in HomeAgain's database. Other companies e.g. PetKey have no info about my chips.
    – Jason C
    Commented Feb 16, 2017 at 23:51
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    [3/2 (doh)] Speaking of which, if your microchip brand is on the AAHA tool's participant list, try looking up your chip on the AAHA tool, you can see where it's at. Note that AAHA is a USA organization, I do not know how much of the world their participants cover, but there may be similar organizations in other countries, or global initiatives. But it's more accurate to say that every manufacturer has their own databases, rather than every country has their own databases. Any combined lookup tools are just tools made as a convenience, there is no global standard for data exchange/access.
    – Jason C
    Commented Feb 16, 2017 at 23:57
  • Thanks Jason, this is very interesting. And quite surprising for me, as the devices follow a standard, and the authorities have to have universal access to all standard microchip data used for registration of vaccinations. In my case the manufacturer is Felixcan, they are not in AAHA, and originally I could query it from a nationwide database covering all the microchipped dogs in Hungary.
    – deeenes
    Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 7:49
  • The physical RFID chip and the format of the data on it is relatively standardized. It's keeping track of those numbers that isn't. A "universal" scanner just packs as many possibilities at once into one scanner (e.g. 125, 128, and 134 kHz chip support in the US), philosophically similar to a universal TV remote. The better (and more $$$) scanners support a wider range of chip type. Some code formats, like the ISO 15-digit one, the first 3 digits identify the country or manufacturer (note that this then allows for country databases too). That's how you figure out who to ask for the ID.
    – Jason C
    Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 16:09

3 Answers 3

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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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I chose International Pet Registry for my pets, they are Integrated into the AAHA which covers USA and Canada and they are also part of Europe too. You can add your pets passport number which is also searchable. I find this really great as i travel alot with my pets and i never have to use a different database as it is all covered. I payment and its for a lifetime. My pet came to me already microchipped and they accept any microchip from around the world so i didn't have to get another implanted as was suggested.

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    Commented Jun 20, 2023 at 3:12
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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.

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