Let me tell you, nothing frustrates us in shelters more than an animal coming in with a microchip that never gets anywhere. Either it wasn’t registered in the first place, or the owner moved and didn’t change the microchip company information.
Maddie is a very sweet 7 year old hound mix who is in exactly that situation. Someone took the time to implant a microchip in her, but they didn’t register their name on the chip.
I could have taken her home with me, but I can’t.
It’s very frustrating.
Microchips are said to provide happy endings for animals that run away from their owners, a concept that began in the 1990s.
Pet identification can be difficult. Even if your dog or cat has a collar, 9 times out of 10 they will lose it while walking around town.
Tags are good for record-keeping, but Pennsylvania requires a license for all dogs over 3 months of age, and all dogs and cats must be vaccinated against rabies if they live in human-occupied housing. Although mandatory, tags are not very permanent and can be lost. Incredibly fast.
It seems like the tattoos would last a lot longer, but I’ve seen a lot of dog tattoos over the years that I can’t read. As animals, and more importantly humans, age, their skin changes and tattoos can stretch. If the source of the identifying information is unreadable, they are completely ineffective.
A microchip, on the other hand, is implanted just under the skin between your pet’s shoulder blades and only has a number that can be read by scanners found at most animal shelters and veterinarian offices. It cannot be used as a GPS tracking system and does not emit radio waves or frequencies of any kind.
You may have heard that microchips migrate to different areas of the body, but the reality is very few. Trust me, when we scan an animal, we look at the entire front of the body. We want to find chips, that’s for sure.
Sometimes a microchip is discovered that allows the animal to contact mom or dad, so the animal doesn’t have to spend the night in a shelter. That’s why we microchip our pets in the first place.
In theory, if all animals were microchipped, there would be far fewer stray dogs and animals could be returned to their rightful places.
In fact, a study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association that looked at more than 7,700 stray animals in animal shelters found that dogs without microchips were returned to their owners 21.9 percent of the time, compared to dogs with microchips. It was found that dogs fitted with this were returned to their owners 52.2% of the time. percent of the time. Cats with microchips returned home 38.5 percent of the time, compared to just 1.8 percent of cats without microchips who were reunited with their owners.
These statistics show that microchips actually work.
But please, please, please, if you choose to microchip your pet, please remember to register the chip and keep the information correct for as long as you own the animal.
That way, you have a better chance of finding your baby if it gets lost.
Microchips work, but they require a human to keep the information up to date. Make sure the microchip is registered correctly so your baby can go home.
*****
Jennifer Vandelow is a publishing and promotions consultant for Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter. Contact information is (email protected). The shelter accepts donations of both money and pet supplies. For more information, call the shelter at 717-263-5791 or visit the website www.cvas-pets.org. CVAS also operates a thrift store in Chambersburg. People can support animals at shelters by donating or shopping at the store.
