I have a friend who had painters working in her house. While they were working her dog snuck out and ran away. Shortly after, the police found the dog and brought her to a pound. While she was there they scanned her for a microchip and fortunately she had one. They called my friend, she picked up her pet and everyone lived happily ever after.
Now, let’s say the dog wasn’t chipped. The police would have taken her to one of the many shelters in NYC and she probably would have been euthanized within a few days.
Pets that don’t have a microchip have a 90% chance of never making it home again. That’s a 90% chance you’ll never see your pet again if it runs away. Those odds are high enough that I got my kitten chipped. She’s strictly indoor but that doesn’t mean she isn’t going to try to sneak out one day.
The microchip itself is about the size of a grain of rice. Contrary to popular belief it is not a tracking system, it’s more like a UPC code. You scan the pet (with a hand-held scanner) and a number pops up. That number is the pet’s ID and is linked to the owner’s address and contact information. The implanting procedure is quick and easy, the chip goes in under the skin right between the shoulder blades using a specially designed syringe.
Make sure to get an international chip, as those are the standard worldwide. You don’t want to get a microchip from a small company as it may require a different scanner that the police or vet may not have. Safety trials have shown the chip to be virtually harmless and I haven’t heard of any reactions from either the chip or the implanting procedure.
Here’s the thing: if you do get a pet chipped, make sure the information connected to the chip is always up to date. There’s nothing worse than scanning a lost pet and finding a chip with no information linked to it. Some vets offices put in all the information for you, so make sure to ask your vet if they do. If they don’t, make sure you do it immediately.
I believe the microchip is one of the best inventions for pets, I totally recommend it. If you have any questions, ask your vet.
Luther ran away from the park one day many many years ago – incidentally, we weren’t with him when he did this, and it was the very park in which he’d been abandoned by his previous keeper / rescued by us. Kris and I looked all night around our area in Brooklyn and went to sleep miserable. Next day, Kris set off for work and I drove over to the BARC shelter and asked them if they had any suggestions for me. “Did you try CAC?” I told them I’d called the animal control people the night before. “Go down there a.s.ap.,” the BARC guy told me. “He’s a pit bull, they’ll put him down quick.” Off I drove into Brooklyn to the CAC. Spent an hour watching people say their good-byes to their dogs, or hand over strays they’d found in the park. “Ask to see the injured animals,” Kris had instructed me before I’d gotten to the CAC. “No matter how yicky it may seem.” LUCKILY, I didn’t have to visit the poor hurt canine dept. The attendant finally took me into where the dogs were and immediately I heard squealing from my then 10 month old pup. He’d been picked up on the street in Brooklyn about 2 miles from our house late in the afternoon of the previous day, about maybe 2 hours after he’d bolted from the park. He was there when I’d called the night before, but hadn’t realized he was the dog I’d been asking for. They put a chip in him them at the CAC before returning Luther to me. Thank god I haven’t had to use it, but I know it’s there – insurance if you will should ever we have to go through such a scare again! (And I have to add — to this day, I credit the wonderful people at BARC – not CAC, for helping me find my dog.)