While I was
contacting animal shelters last week to see if there were any small dogs who
needed rescuing I heard a story about a lost dog who had been turned in to an
animal control shelter with a tag with her name on it. When the dog was taken
to the vet and scanned, they found a microchip, but the company that the
microchip was registered with was no longer in business. So even though they
could retrieve the number from the microchip, it was not possible to connect
the number with the owners. This was the first time that I had heard of or
thought about a microchip becoming ineffective in helping a lost pet become
reunited with it’s owners because the company who the microchip was registered
with wasn't in business anymore. Thankfully in this case the dog was reunited
with her family through other means. This made me think that even though one of
my fur babies has a microchip, that both of them should also have a tag with a
phone number to call in case one of them should somehow get separated from us.
I wanted to
share this story because I now think it is a very good idea for a pet to have
both a microchip and a tag with a phone number to call in order to increase the
chance of your pet being returned safely.
Concerning
the microchip, there are three things to do to ensure that it remains able to
help reunite you with your pet:
1. Have your
vet check the microchip occasionally to verify it is still electronically readable.
Most pet microchips are estimated to remain functional for 12 to 20 years, but
some pets have lived longer than their microchip remained functional or the
microchip simply quits working.
2. Check yearly
to confirm that the company that your pet’s microchip is registered with is
still in business. A shelter or animal
control agency would use the ID number read out of the microchip to contact that
company, who will then connect you with whoever found your pet.
3. Make sure
the information you have registered is up to date. Phone numbers and emails change, households
move.
