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On 1 January 2026, the dog licence regulations for Leipzig – which had been adopted in December – came into force. They had been the subject of heated debate, partly because the city had a keen interest in microchipping as many dogs registered in Leipzig as possible, so that tax collection could be carried out more easily via digital means. However, the consequences of the discount offered for microchipping dogs came as a complete surprise to the city administration. Even though the offer was simply too tempting to resist. At the council meeting on 2 July, SPD councillor Christina März raised the issue.
Naturally, she wanted to know why, according to the city treasury, there was suddenly such a huge backlog in processing registrations for dogs kept in Leipzig. After all, as of the cut-off date of 1 July, 23,251 dog owners had registered 24,513 dogs. That is around 1,000 fewer than in January.
But that wasn’t the surprising part; rather, it was the fact that 10,234 dogs had actually been registered for microchipping.
Even Torsten Bonew, the city’s finance councillor, hadn’t expected this: “It simply overwhelmed us.” But the people of Leipzig aren’t exactly wealthy. If there’s a chance to save a bit on dog licence fees, they’ll take it.
The city council also adopted the dog licence regulations in December: “For microchipped dogs, the tax is reduced by 30.00 euros to 120.00 euros. This scheme promotes the voluntary microchipping of dogs up to and including 2029. Dogs that can be proven to be permanently identified in accordance with Section 7(3) and whose owners consent to the use of the transponder data for tax purposes will receive tax relief.
In accordance with the City Council’s motion (VII-A-07070-NF-03), the dog licence regulations will be amended to include an exemption for assistance dogs, and provisions will be made for retroactive tax exemption following the submission of an application. It is not uncommon for people with disabilities to face numerous bureaucratic and organisational hurdles, meaning that applications can be delayed, for example, due to a need for assistance in completing forms or a lack of support.”
An unexpected rush
It is only natural that the city could not simply cope with this surge in demand for microchips and the associated tax relief. As of 1 June, 4,223 applications for this tax relief were still pending. That sounds like a lot. But the more than 6,000 applications that have already been processed give an idea of the workload the administration has actually already managed to handle. Torsten Bonew spoke of a learning curve.
Leipzig Pass holders can also apply for a reduction in dog licence fees. 340 have done so.
The microchip also makes it easier for the city’s public order service to carry out checks on dogs. “In the first half of 2025, Department 32.5 (Public Order Service) carried out 300 dog checks. This figure breaks down into 259 checks carried out on the department’s own initiative and 41 checks following various reports (from members of the public, etc.),” explained the City Treasury in its response to the SPD parliamentary group.
“In the first half of 2026, 173 checks have been carried out so far. These are broken down into 136 checks based on the department’s own observations and 37 checks following reports.
During these checks, the tax disc or tax registration is routinely verified. However, these inspections are not only intended to enforce the dog licence regulations; they were also carried out on the basis of administrative offences under the City of Leipzig’s Police Regulations or the Saxon Dog Licence Act (SächsGefHundG). It is therefore not possible to draw any reliable conclusions regarding the enforcement of the dog licence regulations from this data.”
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