Microchips: What you need to know

Source: Associated Press

A microchip is not a guarantee that your lost pet will return home, but it significantly increases the chances of reuniting with your companion.  Even if your pet doesn't run away, unexpected disasters can occur that may leave you separated.

Hurricane Katrina taught us a lot about the importance of permanent identification: the Louisiana SCPA reported that of the 15,000 rescued pets (not including the tens of thousands unaccounted for), only 15-20% made it back to their families.

The absolute best thing you can do to increase your pet's chances of returning home is have a collar with tags that display your cell phone number and home address. However, collars can be lost or removed, so we recommend a microchip as another means of identification.

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Microchip Questions & Concerns

• "My pet doesn't need a microchip because she is indoor-only/listens when I call her/has a fenced-in yard/is always on a leash when outside, etc.​"

           As we learned with recent natural disasters, even the most well-behaved dogs and housebound cats can be at risk. Weather is unpredictable, fences can break, and pets can escape when startled by a contractor or fireworks. A microchip helps prepare for the unexpected.
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• "But doesn't it hurt to insert a microchip? Does my pet need to be sedated?"

​            We routinely offer to microchip every pet that goes under anesthesia, but sedation is not necessary. The implant procedure is similar to a vaccination, and most pets show only minor discomfort.​

Source: WikiCommons

• "I don't like the idea of something foreign in my pet."

​  Each microchip comes individually sterilized, and is designed to stay harmlessly under your pet's skin. The microchip itself is small, only about the size of a grain of rice. There is no battery or power source - it uses RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology to transmit the pet's unique ID number only when it receives a signal from the microchip scanner.

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I want my pet to be microchipped. What's next?

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