I thought I would add my thoughts as coming from someone who lives in the UK.
Micro chipping of dogs has been around for years and years. 25 years ago I did some work experience in a vets and it was
well established even then. Lots of dog breeders for example get their dogs micro chipped and lots of other people have been doing it for years for their own reasons so that their dog can be returned if they run off for example. It is more comman than you might think in the UK.
In the UK if dogs roam the streets, they can be picked up by the dog warden.
If they have a collar with name and address etc they are returned, otherwise it is up to the owners to contact their local dog warden to see if they have been found.
If a stray dog is picked up and its owner cannot be found, then it is put down. So the micro chip option would have practical uses. After all a dog cannot talk and tell you where it lives --- well apart from Lassie and Benji! woof woof.
Every year there are also incidents reported in the press in the UK where dogs attack people or other animals and cause
a lot of injury. Sometimes this involves dogs roaming loose so micro chipping would at least allow the owners to be traced.
As the article says, there are certain breeds of dog banned in the UK (although subject to strigent regulations people can
still own them if they can prove they are responsible and adhere to certain rules). But some people seem to deliberately obtain these dogs (or cross breeds of them) for criminal purposes for intimidation etc.
Personally I do not think micro chipping dogs will solve issues as it is not the responsible people who are part of the problem
and the irresponsible people will not bother to get their dogs micro chipped.
But the whole reason behind micro chipping of dogs is because they cannot talk (apart from TV), the need to return them
back to owners if they stray and the ability to track down irresponsible dog owners.
Just in case people are confusing humans and dogs in this thread here is a little reminder:
People do not need micro chips, the majority can talk, have other means of ID and most know where they live!
Most humans do not bite, growl, and go to the toilet in public (but who knows - you might be the exception)!
Most are not called Lassie, Butch or Rover.
Most do not need to be muzzled in public (actually I take that last one back - some do!)
From an ex dog owner who did not get a micro chip