The long-awaited regulations that will help reduce the number of stray dogs, facilitate the search for lost dogs and serve as a deterrent for people who abandon them will finally see the light of day.

On Wednesday – after twice postponing the press conference for reasons unknown and without apologising to journalists who had turned up when the event was cancelled at the last minute – Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino launched amendments to the Dogs Act.

The changes, which will come into force when they are published in the Government Gazette, will bind dog owners to license their pets and micro-chip them. Last year, only 5,368 dogs were registered with the police, although it is estimated that there are 100,000 dogs.

A law imposing dog registration against a fee of €2.33 a year was never enforced, and this will be replaced by the micro-chipping of the animals against a one-time fee, €10 for neutered dogs and double that for those that are not neutered. Owners who do not register their dogs can be fined up to €300.

Registered dogs will now have to have an identification badge with the owner’s contact details, making it much easier for the dog owner to be traced.

These new regulations make a lot of sense for many reasons. For one thing, there were too many strays. Secondly, owners of dogs will now have to take full responsibility of their pet for whatever it does. Thirdly, such registration will hopefully also curb dog abuse.

It is hoped that, unlike what happened in the past, these new regulations are enforced to the letter. It is useless to amend regulations and then not stick to the written word. For example, dog owners should clean up after their pet, but very few are seen doing so and our roads and pavements are still littered with the mess dogs leave behind them.