What is mircochipping and how does it work?
A microchip is a small electronic chip, about the size of a grain of rice, inserted under the skin of a pet, injected by hypodermic needle. Traditionally, dogs and cats have their microchip placed under the skin at the back of the neck. Once in place the microchip is a lifelong fixture in your pet’s anatomy.
After inserted, the chip is registered to the pet’s owner along with all the descriptive information about the pet. Tags are issued with each chip for a visual identification of the chip number.
The cost of microchipping can vary from place to place but cost on an average of $25-50 dollars at most facilities or practices.
If your pet is lost, then picked up and taken to a shelter or veterinarian, they can be scanned for a microchip and their identity and home address is immediately traceable through the microchip manufacturer database.
Some microchipping manufacturers offer a “lost pet” policy, payable once per year, that will issue a bulletin on your pet should you report it lost or stolen. Participants registered for bulletins, such as veterinarians and shelters, receive and email giving them the heads up to be on the lookout for your missing pet.
Microchipping your pet is by far one of the most responsible things you can do to help insure your pet find their way home should they become separated from you. Shelters and rescues depend on microchips to help reunite lost pets with their owners on a daily basis.
Here are a couple things to keep in mind when microchipping your pets.
Microchip registrations are only as reliable as the information they are registered with. If you register your microchip and later change addresses or telephone numbers, remember to update your microchip information accordingly. Many times shelters and veterinarians come across pets that have a microchip but their owner’s information is out of date, making the owner impossible to find.
Microchips are not GPS tracking devises. A lady once called a local shelter and told them to “turn on that box” referring to some mythical devise that should tracker her dog as it had gotten lost. That’s just not how it works. Once a pet is microchipped it takes a scanning wand to discover the chip. The scanning wand will read the microchip number that is then checked against a database where owner information is found. There is no “box” than can be turned on to track your pet.
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