You may have recently heard the story of little “Cooper”, a beloved family pet that disappeared from West Sacramento in October of 2009 only to be found nearly 2 years later in Florida (nearly 3,000 miles away!) The reunion of “Cooper” and his family was made possible with a microchip that was placed under “Cooper’s skin that helped to identify him and his owners.
A microchip is a tiny transponder; about the size of a grain of rice that is encoded with a unique identification number. It is used for permanent identification in pets. Placing the microchip is usually done by a veterinarian or trained professional. The procedure is fast, safe, and appears to be pain-free in most pets. The needle used is quite large, and some pet parents will choose to have their pet microchipped at the time of spay/neuter or another anesthetic procedure. However, this is not necessary, and the microchip can be placed at any time.
Once the microchip has been placed, it must be registered by the owner with the manufacturer’s database. The person implanting the microchip should provide you with all the necessary paperwork and appropriate number to call or website to go to in order to complete registration. If it is not registered, it is very difficult to track it back to you. It only takes a couple of minutes to register and could be the key to reuniting you with your pet.
If your pet were ever to be lost or even stolen and he or she ended up at a shelter or veterinary office, the microchip could be scanned with a microchip reader which detects the specific electronic code embedded in the chip. The shelter or veterinary office could then identify the manufacturer and contact their database. The database would then be able to provide your information to the shelter or veterinary office and get them in contact with you.
Collars, ID tags and even tattoos can often be hard to read and can even be tampered with and the information changed. Microchips cannot be misread, and the identification number is tamper proof. There is no chance of losing a microchip and it is the best way to permanently identify your pet and help reunite you with your furry friend.