When your Microchipped Pet Goes Missing
Image Credit: Michelson Philanthropies
Pets are like kids. They are cute, fuzzy, demanding and as slippery. One minute they are following you gladly by their leash, the next minute they are triggered by a moving object in the bush and jetting off across the street. Maybe you are about to visit the vet but your furry baby, familiar but terrified about the routine, decides to escape and hit the street.
Fortunately, your pet is microchipped, you think. So, you contact your vet about your missing pet and ask if they can help find it with their microchip scanning device. Well, to answer as your vet would, NO.
Why, you ask. A microchip is simply a tool for identifying an animal and not a GPS tracker. It is a tiny piece of silicon material inserted under an animal’s skin, in between the shoulder blades. It carries a unique identification number that is linked to an animal owner’s contact information saved on a secure database. The microchip scanner on the other hand, is a device that reads and confirm your pet’s microchip ID number.
For instance, when a missing pet is found and taken to a shelter or other veterinary facility, the pet will be scanned using the microchip scanner which in turn display the ID number. This ID will be entered into the database to extract the owner’s contact information. And voila! your pet is back home.
Thus, a microchipped animal needs to be found first before the microchip ID is confirmed. Therefore, when putting out a missing pet flyer for your missing pet, be sure to check that you include the microchip ID number in addition to other physical characteristics such as colour, markings and breed of the animal.
Author: Dr Zaharat Kadri-Alabi
