The Importance of Microchipping Your Pet
No matter how hard you try, accidents happen. A gardener leaves the gate open. The UPS delivery person needs a signature and a pet sneaks out. A squirrel runs by while you are taking a photo. Damage to a wooden fence goes unnoticed. A toddler accidentally lets the indoor cat out. It should be okay though, they have a collar and ID tags on, right?
In many cases, a neighbor or local resident will be the first person to come across your pet. It is extremely important that your pet is wearing a collar with current contact information, it is the first line of defense to hopefully get your pet back. If your pet is friendly and will approach the stranger, hopefully they will hold on to your pet and call you so you can come pick it up. If your pet is nervous or scared, they may flee. The pet could lose it's collar. Possibly, if a good samaritan holds the collar in an effort to save your pet, a dog could break free or back out of the collar. In any event, it is a good idea to have a secondary way to identify your pet, the microchip.
Studies done by the American Veterinary Medical Association have shown that of the approximately 8 million animals that wind up in shelters each year, only 20% of dogs are reunited with their families. Microchipped dogs however have a return rate of 58%, a very sizable increase. Less than 2% of cats that wind up in the shelter are reunited, but microchipped cats have a reunite rate of 38%!
The collar and ID tag will always be the best way for someone to contact you. Your neighbors will not be able to find and read a microchip. But if there are no tags, many people will take the animal to a vet's office or the local shelter to have the pet checked for a chip. Most veterinarians and shelters have a microchip reader that will register the chip number, and with that number, they can access a database with the registered owners contact information. Microchipping increases the chances of being reunited with your pet.
Microchipping a pet is easy. Many vet offices can do it, and it is a good idea to have it done at the very first vet visit you go to with your new pet. Many shelters make it a mandatory part of the adoption process (along with spay/neuter and licensing) and include the cost in the adoption fee. In most cases, microchipping your pet is a $25-$50 fee, and there may be a small yearly fee.
What is a microchip? It is an implantable computer chip that is smaller than a grain of rice. It is placed under the skin of your pet with a needle, generally around the scruff of the neck between the shoulder blades. They can't be lost or fall off, and are designed to last for 25 years. Just about any type of animal can be microchipped. The microchip has a unique identification number. The chip can be read by a scanner, and with that ID number, the pet owners contact information can be obtained from the microchip registry. It is extremely important that the information maintained in that registry is current, as people may move with their pets, or change phone numbers over the course of the pet's lifetime.
Although there are several different types of microchips and different companies supplying them, most companies make a universal scanner, so any chip can be located and read by the scanner. Remember that just getting your pet microchipped isn't enough, you will still need to register with the microchip company, either by mail or on-line.
Remember, microchips do not replace collars with tags. Chips are not GPS trackers. The ID tag will still be your best chance at having your pet returned quickly. But in the event your pet loses it's collar and winds up at the shelter, the shelter will do a microchip check as part of their intake procedure, and they will be able to contact you and let you know they found your pet. Consider collars, tags, and a microchip as mandatory components to your pet's identification system.