Lassie Come Home- Microchip Your Pet
Animals die needlessly when humans don’t take the necessary action to protect them. A bold statement but a true one, and a problem that has been solved through the introduction of Microchip RFID technology.
A microchip is a small radio transponder which is implanted under the skin near the shoulder blades of the pet via a sterile needle. The chip , about the size of a rice gain, activates a receiver in the scanner which transmits its microchip number to an electronic scanner for veterinary or animal welfare/control personnel to read. They then can determine the type of chip and contact the approriate pet recovery database to discover the owners information.
The National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy completed a survey of 1000 animal shelters across the United States in 1997 where it found that about one million dogs and 584,000 cats were found as strays and taken to shelters. Of these only 16% of the dogs and 2% of the cats could be returned to their owners. Some of these could be adopted but the majority of these pets were humanely euthanized because their owners could not be found. This carnage could have been avoided.
An open door, or unlocked fence can be the difference between a lost pet and a dead pet. With the technology available pets can be recovered in greater numbers than through the use of tags,collars with the owners name and pets name inscribed. These can come off or be chewed off with wear. the microchip is invisible yet powerful. Microchips and their database registrations have also been helpful in natural disasters such as storms,hurricanes in returning lost pets to their owners.
The cost of microchipping varies by veterinary charges and registration fees varies but is usually around $45.00 and registration with the recovery services is free or a small annual fee to keep the registration current when people move. Some of these services keep the data current by regularily contacting and confirming the contact information with the owner. Others rely on the owner to keep the record updated. Some municipal governments use the tag information to license pets in their area and provide support for animal control activities. Others use metal tags and tokens that can fall off and be lost.
Microchipping of pets is a wise and most effective way to enhance pet recovery when a dog or cat goes missing. It is a uniform way that assists animal control and shelters in returning the pet to their owner . A minimal cost and activity at the beginning of pet ownership can eliminate and avoid the pain and suffering of losing the family pet.
Animal clinics and animal welfare organizations have electronic scanners that identify and display the microchip registration of the majority of chipsm in the marketplace regardless of manufacturer as long as they are either Non-ISO or ISO standard manufacture. Names such as Avid,Home Again,24Petwatch,Allflex are commonly used microchips in North America. The current non-ISO chips in the US can be read today and in Canada the scanners read both ISO and non-ISO chips in scanners provided specifically for that market.
Microchips have a distinct and discrete code or number which they transmit when excited by a scanner. Depending on the code the registry can easily be contacted by toll free telephone. The registries are not all exclusive to the chip manufacturers and some include all chips that are in the market. The registries have names like Home Again, 24Petwatch and Avid ID. the 24Petwatch registry allows the registration of all microchips regardless of maker. Its database can be searched in real-time by the largest online shelter and rescue software in North America. This assists in recoveries and online searching across geographic boundaries. Having your pet chipped and registered does save lives of countless lost pets.
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