By Ivan Skrobov in Pets ·

Pet Collars and ID Tags: UK Rules for Online Sellers

Selling dog collars, leads and ID tags online? Check what the Control of Dogs Order 1992 requires on a tag, keep microchipping separate, plan engraving space, size collars in centimetres, sell quick-release cat collars, and price and refund personalised items correctly.

Dog collars and leads in several colours with blank metal ID tags, an engraving pen and a tape measure on a wooden desk

If you sell dog collars, leads and ID tags online in the UK, the legal line to build your products around is short: under the Control of Dogs Order 1992, a dog in a public place must wear a collar with the owner's name and address on the collar itself or on a plate or badge attached to it. A phone number is optional. Microchipping is a separate duty that does not replace the tag. Engraved tags are usually outside the 14-day right to cancel, but only if you say so before the buyer orders.

Our guides to selling pet products online in the UK and selling handmade pet accessories cover product safety basics, fibre labels and costing your time. This one covers the law and listing details specific to collars, leads and tags.

Step 1: Know what the tag law actually requires

Article 2 of the Order applies to every dog in a highway or a place of public resort. Check these points before you write listing copy:

  • Who is liable: the owner or the person in charge of the dog (article 3). Local authority officers enforce it, and a dog without a proper collar can be seized and treated as a stray (articles 4 and 5).
  • Exempt dogs: packs of hounds, and dogs being used for sport, vermin control, driving or tending cattle or sheep, official police, armed forces or Customs and Excise duties, or emergency rescue, plus dogs registered with the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.
  • Where it applies: the Order was made for England, Scotland and Wales, so check Northern Ireland's rules separately.
  • What is optional: the Order does not mention a phone number, the dog's name or a "microchipped" line. Only the name and address are required.

The Order does not say how short an address can be, so leave room for a house number or name, street, town and postcode rather than selling a "postcode only" layout as legal.

Step 2: Keep microchipping separate

GOV.UK's page on microchipping dogs and cats says all dogs in the UK must be microchipped and registered by 8 weeks old. In England, cats must be microchipped and registered by 20 weeks, including indoor cats; this has applied since 10 June 2024. Owners can be fined up to £500. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, cat microchipping is a choice.

In England the duty sits in regulation 3 of the Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023, and the database record holds the keeper's name, address and phone number "if any" (regulation 6). GOV.UK adds that a microchipped dog must still wear a collar and tag with the owner's name and address in public. So in listings:

  1. Never describe a tag, QR tag or GPS tracker as replacing a microchip or meeting the microchipping rules.
  2. Do not tell cat owners a tag is a legal requirement; it is not. Cats Protection's collar advice calls a microchip the safest way to identify a cat.

Step 3: Plan engraving space before you list

Character limits depend on tag size, font and method, so set them from your own test pieces.

  1. Measure each blank. Record diameter or width and height in millimetres, and the usable area on each side once the ring hole is allowed for.
  2. Engrave a worst case. Use the longest realistic text at your chosen font size and check it reads at arm's length.
  3. Set limits per side. State the maximum lines and characters per line in the listing, and set the same limits in your personalisation field so buyers cannot type more.
  4. Count spaces. "Mrs J Patel" is 11 characters and "27 Orchard Road" is 15, because spaces and full stops take engraving space too.
  5. Offer the back. A second side gives room for a phone number while the address stays on the front, so price and preview both sides.

Say how you engrave: laser, rotary or hand stamped. Hand-stamped letters can sit slightly unevenly, so say so. Before engraving, show a text preview and ask the buyer to check the spelling and postcode.

Step 4: Describe materials and fittings by measurement

Give the material, thickness in millimetres, weight in grams, finish, and how the tag attaches, for example split ring or S-hook, with its inside diameter. Weight matters most for toy breeds and cats, so put it near the top of the listing for small tags.

Then work out your role under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. You are a producer if you make the item or put your name or trade mark on it, which includes engraving your shop name on a bought-in tag. Anyone whose work may affect a product's safety, such as fitting clips, rings or buckles, also counts as a producer. A producer must place only safe products on the market (regulation 5), and under regulation 7 must warn about risks that are not obvious and, unless it is not reasonable, show their name, address and a product reference on the product or its packaging. A small tag is a fair case for using the backing card or bag.

The regulations define safety by the risk to people, so for leads and collars think about the walk: a clip that opens, stitching that fails near a road, a buckle that slips. Regulation 7 expects sample testing where reasonable, so pull-test clips and seams from each batch and record the result. If you resell finished goods, regulation 8 requires due care and records of your suppliers.

The rules may change. The consultation on the UK's new product safety framework closed on 23 June 2026, and no outcome had been published by 2 November 2026, so check GOV.UK's product safety advice for businesses before you list.

Step 5: Size dog collars by neck measurement, not breed

Defra's code of practice for the welfare of dogs says collars should be the correct size and fit and should not cause pain or discomfort. Neck sizes vary within a breed and with coat, so build your size guide on measurements:

  • Give each size's adjustment range in centimetres, from the tightest to the loosest setting, plus the collar width in millimetres.
  • Ask buyers to measure around the neck where the collar sits, with a soft tape, and pick the size whose range covers that number with room to adjust either way.
  • If you list breeds, label them "typical examples" next to the centimetre range, never instead of it.
  • For leads, give length in centimetres, width, clip type and handle material.

Step 6: Sell cat collars with a quick-release buckle

Defra's code of practice for the welfare of cats tells owners to make sure any collar fits properly, has a quick release mechanism and is not harmful. Cats Protection says quick-release or snap-opening collars are the safest, does not recommend elasticated ones, and says two fingers should fit comfortably under a fitted collar.

  1. Pull-test the release on samples from every batch and record the result.
  2. Describe the mechanism: "snap-open buckle that releases under pull" tells a buyer more than "safety collar".
  3. Keep add-ons light. Cats Protection warns that bells, discs and other accessories can be hazardous, so give the weight of any tag you sell for cats.

Step 7: Wording to leave out of listings

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 treats misleading information as a misleading action, and Schedule 20 lists practices that are unfair in all circumstances. For this category, watch for:

  • "Defra approved", "council approved" or "vet approved" without a real approval behind it (Schedule 20, paragraph 4).
  • "Legal dog tag" on its own. Write "room for your name and address, as the Control of Dogs Order 1992 requires in public".
  • "Replaces a microchip" or "no microchip needed".
  • "14-day returns guaranteed" presented as a special feature, when it is a legal right (paragraph 11).
  • "Engraving offer ends tonight" when it does not (paragraph 7).
  • "Unbreakable" or "chew proof" without test evidence.

Step 8: Photograph for size and legibility

Photos have to prove the text will be readable:

  • both sides of an engraved sample next to a ruler, using a made-up address, never a customer's;
  • each font at actual size, with the character limit in the caption;
  • the tag on a collar, and on a dog with that dog's neck measurement given;
  • the collar laid flat beside a tape measure at its smallest and largest settings;
  • close-ups of the buckle, clip and stitching, and for cat collars the buckle open and closed.

Put size, material and personalisation in the title, as our piece on why listings get no views explains.

Step 9: Price personalisation and set out cancellation rules

Under section 230 of the 2024 Act, the total price must include any fees a buyer will necessarily pay. If every tag you sell is engraved, the engraving belongs in the headline price. Optional extras, such as a second side or an extra line, can be priced separately if buyers see them, and delivery charges, before they decide. Cost in spoiled blanks and remakes.

The right to cancel does not apply to goods made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalised (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28), and Schedule 2 requires you to tell buyers before they order that they will not have that right. Apply it item by item: in an order for an engraved tag and a plain collar, the collar is not personalised, so treat it as returnable.

The exception does not cover your mistakes. Under section 11 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods must match their description, so a tag that differs from the text the buyer approved is yours to put right. Keep the buyer's text and the approved preview with every order.

Where MC999 fits

MC999 is a UK online marketplace with no commission on sales; sellers pay a monthly fee based on the scale of their business. If your shop runs on Shopify, BigCommerce or Shopline, you connect it and buyers complete the purchase on your own website, where your personalisation field and cancellation notice already sit. Without a web shop, you can list items manually and arrange payment with the buyer directly. The first 300 eligible UK sellers get six months with no monthly fee: see how to become a Founding Seller.

FAQ

Does a dog tag have to include a phone number?

No. The Control of Dogs Order 1992 requires only the owner's name and address. Offer a phone number as an option, for example on the back, and keep the address on the front.

Is a tag on a harness enough?

The Order refers to a collar with the name and address on it or on an attached plate or badge, and does not mention harnesses. So do not claim that a harness tag meets it.

Can a buyer return an engraved tag if they typed their address wrongly?

If you told them before the order that personalised items cannot be cancelled, and you engraved the text they approved, they have no right to cancel. You can still offer a discounted re-engrave as goodwill, and say so in your policy if you do.

Sources (checked 2 November 2026)

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