The Greyhound Microchip Registry licenced under the Domestic Animals Act 1994 and operated by GRV. The Registry offers a 24/7, national, reunification service to Australia and New Zealand.
All Victorian born greyhounds are microchipped and registered on the Greyhound Microchip Registry as puppies, and this includes both racing greyhounds in the care of GRV registered participants, and retired greyhounds that have been re-homed into the community.
The Greyhound Microchip Registry keeps a record of the current ownership details of the greyhound, which enables local council, shelters, and pounds to make swift contact with the current owner should the greyhound become lost. As such, it is very important that the contact details recorded on the Greyhound Microchip Registry are kept up to date.
Greyhounds born interstate or in New Zealand, and not on another microchip registry, can register with the Greyhound Microchip Registry.
All registrations, change of ownership and change of contact details are free of charge with GRV.
Keeping your contact details up to date on the Greyhound Microchip Registry
It is very important that you ensure your contact details remain up to date on the Greyhound Microchip Registry. If you move address, or change your phone number, please notify the Greyhound Microchip Registry by completing the ‘Change of Owner Contact Details (Retired Greyhound)’.
This form can be returned to Greyhound Microchip Registry (GRV), 46-50 Chetwynd Street, West Melbourne VIC 3003 or by email to [email protected].
You should also provide details of an alternative contact person and ensure that these details remain current. The alternative contact person recorded on the Greyhound Microchip Registry will be contacted if your greyhound is found at large and you are uncontactable.
Change of Ownership
If in the future, the ownership of your greyhound is transferred to another person, you and the new owner should complete and sign a ‘Change of Ownership (Retired Greyhound)’ form. The new owner’s details (including name, address, phone number and alternative contact) can then be recorded on the Greyhound Microchip Registry.
This form can be returned to Greyhound Microchip Registry (GRV), 46-50 Chetwynd Street, West Melbourne VIC 3003 or by email to [email protected].
Finding a lost greyhound
Sometimes greyhounds get lost. If you find a lost greyhound, there are several options to help you reunite the greyhound with its owner.
- Contact the Greyhound Microchip Registry on (03) 8329 1139– As a licensed microchip registry, the Greyhound Microchip Registry provides a 24-hour hotline to support the reunification of lost greyhounds with their owners. If you find a greyhound and you do not know who the owner is, contact us on (03) 8329 1139 and we will work with you to reunite the greyhound with its owner. Almost all racing greyhounds also have ear tattoos, so even if you do not know the microchip number for the lost greyhound, you can use the tattoo in the greyhound’s ear to help GRV to identify the greyhound. For privacy reasons, GRV will not be able to disclose the owner’s details to the finder without the owner’s permission. However, if the owner does not give them permission, GRV will refer the finder’s details to the owner (with the finder’s permission).
- Contact your local council– All local councils will work with you to try and find the owner of a lost greyhound. They have the legal authority to request owner details from GRV. They may ask you to drop the greyhound at their shelter or pound service, so they can care for it until the owner is found; or they may offer to pick the greyhound up from you.
- Contact your local registered shelter– Shelters, like council pounds can offer the lost greyhound shelter and accommodation until the owner of the greyhound can be found. They also work with local council and microchip registries to find the owner and support reunification.
Pet Address
Pet Address is a commercial website (http://www.petaddress.com.au/) to which many, but not all, microchip registries subscribe. The Greyhound Microchip Registry does not subscribe to Pet Address at this time. If the microchip number belongs to a greyhound, and the number is not listed on any of their affiliated microchip registries, Pet Address does provide a general notification to contact the Greyhound Microchip Registry on (03) 8329 1139.
Re-homing your greyhound – Information for GRV Registered Participants
If you re-home your retired greyhound to a person in the community, you must notify GRV so that the new owner details can be recorded on the Greyhound Microchip Registry. In addition to updating the details via your FastTrack account, you and the new owner should complete and sign the ‘Notice of Retirement as a Pet – Transfer to New Owner’ form. All of the information that you need to ensure compliance with the Code of Practice for the Keeping of Racing Greyhounds can be found in the Re-homing Package.This form can be returned to GRV, 46-50 Chetwynd Street, West Melbourne VIC 3003 or by email at [email protected].
Please note that all retired greyhounds living in the community are required by law to be registered with local council. Council registration and microchip registration are different types of registration.