Shock collars, microchips, and pet travel: what UK pet owners know – and don’t – about pet laws
A Weenect quiz involving nearly 5,000 European pet owners shows that Britons are well informed on tracking technology and EU laws, even though travel rules now operate differently for them, but many remain unaware of key legal requirements – including microchipping rules and the lack of a nationwide ban on electric shock collars.
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London / Paris. July 2026 – When the European Parliament voted in April 2026 to make microchipping mandatory for all dogs and cats in the EU – as part of a broader animal welfare package – it raised an important question: how well do pet owners actually know the rules? To find out, Weenect, one of Europe’s leading GPS tracking brands for dogs and cats, analysed the responses of 4,997 pet owners across the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands who completed a 16-question quiz on global pet laws, identification requirements, and tracking technology. The results show strong overall knowledge – alongside significant blind spots in national legislation.
Spain emerges as a front-runner, with knowledge levels consistent across Europe
Spain achieved the highest average score in the quiz (81.6%), closely followed by Germany (80.9%), and the UK got an average score of 77.9%. Despite these differences, the average score was 13 out of 16 in every country – reflecting a broadly shared baseline of knowledge across Europe.
British respondents performed particularly well on questions related to identification and tracking technology as well as on questions about EU-level legislation.
Shock collars: the question almost no one got right
When asked which countries have no nationwide ban on electric shock collars, respondents across all six countries struggled. Only about one in three answered correctly, making it the only question with a weighted average below 30% across Europe.
The main source of confusion was the UK: while most respondents correctly identified the United States as having no federal ban, fewer than half knew the UK also lacks a nationwide ban. Shock collars are only prohibited in Wales, meaning there are currently no legal restrictions on their use in England, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.
The UK’s fully-correct rate on the multi-country shock collar question was 36.2% – the second-highest of all six countries, behind Spain (39.5%). However, this still means nearly two thirds of British respondents answered incorrectly. Most strikingly, only 43.9% of UK respondents correctly identified their own country as lacking a nationwide ban. This finding highlights a significant gap between public perception and legal reality.
UK pet owners understand EU travel rules well, even though the system has changed for them
Recent EU rule changes have altered the process for Great Britain residents travelling to the EU with their pets. Travel remains fully possible, but most UK pet owners must now obtain an Animal Health Certificate (AHC) for travel to the EU, as EU pet passports are generally available only to people whose main residence is in the EU. Despite these additional requirements, UK respondents demonstrated a solid understanding of EU pet travel rules, performing broadly in line with the European average.
The new EU regulation on the welfare and traceability of dogs and cats requires pets to be registered in national identification databases that can exchange information across member states, helping reunite lost pets with their owners abroad.
British respondents struggled with key legal requirements
Beyond shock collars, the results suggest that awareness of some pet-related regulations remains uneven among British pet owners. On microchipping, only 70.7% of UK respondent correctly identified that while dogs have been required to be microchipped since 2016, the same requirement only extended to cats in June 2024. This was lower than the corresponding figures in Spain (87.7%) and Italy (77.9%).
British respondents were least likely to correctly identify Germany's tenant-notification requirement, under which tenants must inform their landlord before keeping a pet. Just 54.4% answered correctly, the lowest figure of any country surveyed, compared with 58.3% in France, 62.8% in Italy, and 79.5% in the Netherlands.
Europeans know their tracking technology – and why it matters
UK respondents scored highest of all countries on the question distinguishing GPS trackers from AirTags with a 96.9% success rate, and achieved 92.3% on Bluetooth vs. GPS distinctions – above France (90.9%) and the Netherlands (94.3%). Overall, the results point to strong technology literacy across the board.
This matters in practice: choosing the right technology directly affects how reliably a lost pet can be found. The fact that European pet owners are broadly fluent in these distinctions is an encouraging sign for animal safety across the continent.
The quiz remains open at weenect.com for anyone wishing to test their own knowledge.
For images, product details, and further background, visit Weenect’s Media Kit.
About Weenect
Founded in January 2012 by Adrien Harmel, Bénédicte de Villemeur-Vieille, and Ferdinand Rousseau, Weenect is a French company specialising in GPS trackers for dogs and cats, designed to ensure pets can roam safely and always return home. Endorsed by veterinarians and animal protection organisations, and collaborating with national registries such as I-CAD in France and TASSO e.V. in Germany, Weenect lifetime-guaranteed trackers offer real-time tracking every second, history analysis, activity tracking and much more, to prevent pets from getting lost. Weenect products are available in more than 2 ,000 partner shops and platforms, and are used by over 250,000 pet owners globally.
Media contact
Aiala Suso
Media & Brand Relations | English & Spanish-speaking Market
www.weenect.com