The laws introduced at the start of this year made it illegal to advertise the sale of domestic animals in a newspaper without a microchip identification number.

Registered domestic animal businesses may use its council business registration number as an alternative.

A Victorian Canine Association member, who did not want to be named, said the new rules would see regular residents wanting to sell their puppies turn to other methods to get rid of them.

“They’re not going to pay to advertise their puppies like this, if they’ve got a litter they’ve got to include every single microchip number, that’s not going to happen,” the VCA member said.

“They will just dump them or kill them to get rid of them.”

Based in central Victoria, the VCA member does not have a registered business as they are an owner of a rare breed of dogs which produces a litter of puppies only twice every year.

The new laws, which are part of the government’s new version of the Government’s Domestic Animals Act, have prevented the VCA member from selecting the best home for their puppies.

“I don’t get my pups microchipped until they’re six weeks – when I get them immunised – but you can’t advertise them without the microchip number.

“This means I can’t be particular with my buyers as I normally have been because the older the puppies are the less interested people are. Nobody wants the older puppies.”

The VCA member said with only a couple of litters to sell each year it was not viable to register as a business.

They believe its unfair that registered businesses did not have to advertise microchip numbers while members of organisations like the VCA, which require members to microchip their puppies before selling them, do.

The VCA member believes quoting a registered breeder number did not guarantee that puppies sold by the breeder were microchipped.

The RSPCA supports the laws, which were introduced among a host of other laws in a bid to crackdown on illegal puppy farming.

The RSPCA’s Tim Pilgrim said the rules created transparency for buyers with assurance that puppies were being sold by a reputable breeder.

“Part of responsible pet ownership is to get your pets desexed, microchipped and vaccinated,” he said.

Mr Pilgrim said microchipping cost about $30, but various organisations ran free microchipping campaigns throughout the year.