MICROCHIPPING

According to the American Humane Association, only about seventeen percent of lost dogs and two percent of cats ever find their way back from shelters to their original owners.  Almost 9.6 million pets are euthanized every year because their owners can?t be found.  There are ways to beat these odds though, and they involve using nametags, collars and microchips.  To give your pet the best chance to be identified, no matter how far she roams, have her implanted with a microchip and wear an updated nametag.

Although tags and collars are important, they can tear or slip off.  With microchipping, on the other hand, your veterinary staff injects a tiny computer chip ? about the size of a grain of rice ? just under your pet?s skin, between the shoulder blades.  If your dog or cat is found, any animal hospital, shelter, or humane organization can use a microchip reader to read the unique ID number contained on the chip.  The veterinarian or worker can access the database by inputting the number given off by the microchip.  The chip cannot be lost or damaged, and will last the pet?s lifetime.  However, it is your responsibility as the pet owner to update your contact information if you move or change phone numbers.

The microchip is convenient, safe, and reliable.  Though many veterinarians and animal shelters are actively working to inform their clients about microchipping, there are still a number of myths keeping pet owners from microchipping their pets.

                                                              Myth: The implantation procedure is too expensive.

Truth: While the price can vary from one veterinarian to another, it often falls between $25 and $75.  It?s a one-time fee; the chip never needs maintenance or replacement.  There may be a fee for changing your address, phone number, or other contact information in the database.  Home Again also has a program to actively try to find you pet if they are reported missing (although there is a small yearly fee this extra service).  Please see our Home Again literature for more information about this program.

Myth: It?s going to hurt my pet to get the chip implanted.

Truth: The procedure is simple, routine, and it doesn?t require any anesthesia (although we commonly do it at the time of your pets spay or neuter surgery).  Your pet gets an injection just under the loose skin between the shoulder blades.  We think the pain would be similar to have your ears pierced.  Some animals will flinch or cry, but most do not react at all.  It?s a very brief period of discomfort for a lifetime of insurance if they go missing.

Myth: Most shelter and veterinarians don?t have microchip readers, so they won?t be able to identify my pet.

Truth:  It?s true that a microchip won?t work to identify your pet unless your pet comes in contact with a microchip reader.  There are few shelters and veterinarians in the US today that don?t have readers.  The main microchip manufacturers offer universal microchip readers to humane societies, shelters, and veterinarians for free or for a small fee.  Until recently, each brand of microchip could only be read by its own brand of microchip reader.  Recently, universal readers that detect all brands of microchip have been made available to the shelter community.

Myth:  It?s not safe for my dog to have a foreign object inside their body.

Truth:  Any foreign material injected carries some risks.  However, the risks are extremely minimal compared to the risk of your pet becoming lost.  Veterinarians have been implanting microchips into animals for years, and the process has been proven to be very safe.  The chip is made out of an inert, biocompatible substance, which means it won?t cause an allergic reaction in your pet, and it won?t degenerate over time.  The first versions of the microchip would sometimes migrate from where they were injected, but the design has been altered to prevent migration.  Microchip reading is by radio frequency and is also benign.