S.L. 437.101 Art. 5Licensing.

(1) On payment of the prescribed fee, a lifetime licence shall be issued by the Director when a dog has been registered and a microchip inserted intrascapulae as a means of identification.

(2) No person shall keep a dog of the age of four months or over without a licence.

(3) The prescribed fee shall cover the cost of the microchip and its insertion and its inclusion in a database.

(4) The owner or keeper of a dog shall ensure that the dog wears a tag or a badge bearing the owner’s or keeper’s telephone number and it shall be worn at all times when the dog is in a public place.

(5) The Director shall be responsible for the issuing of licences, the keeping of a national database and the arrangements for the microchipping of dogs, which microchipping shall be carried out under the authority of a veterinarian.

(6) The Director shall publish a list of component costs in the Gazette, and such fee shall be subject to change from time to time as will be duly notified in the Gazette.

(7) Persons applying for a licence shall be eighteen years old or over and able to take charge of a dog.

(8) A blind or disabled person who keeps a guide dog or an assistance dog shall be issued with a licence at no cost, regardless of the age restriction laid down in sub-regulation (7).

(9) Any person convicted of cruelty to animals shall be forbidden from owning a dog or applying for a further dog licence for such period as may be decided by the court.

(10) The Director shall be notified within seven days from when any licensed dog dies or is transferred by its owner or keeper.

(11) The Director shall be notified within forty-eight hours by an owner or keeper in the case of the loss of a licensed dog.

(12) A separate licence shall be required in respect of each dog.

(13) Imported dogs are to be licensed within ninety calendar days from the date of their entry into Malta.