Information

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Database operators

Compliant databases

The databases that meet government standards are:

What information you need to store

Dog keeper

You need to store information about the keeper of the dog including:

  • full name
  • address
  • email
  • phone number

Dog breeders or dealers

If they're a breeder or dealer you must keep information about their licence, including:

  • their licence number or code
  • the name of the council that issued it

Information about the dog

You must keep information about the dog including:

  • sex
  • breed and description if it's a cross-breed
  • colour
  • dog's date of birth or nearest estimate
  • microchip number
  • name and identification number

Data standards

To meet the data standards, you must:

  • keep data about each dog for a minimum of 30 years from its birth date
  • publish your policy on data retention and destruction
  • have capacity to store retained data securely
  • have a system where data can be easily retrieved
  • back up data at a secure off-site facility once every 24 hours
  • have a system to cross-reference data requests to other database operators

Who should you release data to

You can give data to certain people when they're:

  • trying to reunite a dog with its keeper
  • trying to enforce the regulations

These authorised people are:

  • a vet
  • a person whose job is to prevent or detect crimes against dogs
  • the current keeper
  • a former keeper

Database operators also need to have a system to check whether a person is authorised to get data.

The full conditions for database operators are set out on legislation.gov

If you donot comply with the conditions for database operators you can be fined up to £2,500.

If you're a database operator and would like to be listed, contact the Animal Welfare team on Animal.Health@gov.scot.

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