Should Your Pet Be Microchipped?

It’s a terrifying feeling. You walk in your home or backyard to find that your pet is missing. You call your neighbors, friends, and drive throughout town but your pet is nowhere to be found. Even worse, today of all days, you forgot to put on your pet’s collar with his ID tags before leaving for work.

More than 10 million dogs and cats are lost or stolen every year in the U.S. according to The American Humane Association. A lost pet gives beloved pet owners pure panic, and most never see their pet again.

The days of simply relying on pet’s collars and dangling identification tags are gone. Microchips permanently identify your pet with your information and give you a piece of mind. It’s a permanent way for both cats and dogs to have your contact information attached to them at all times.

How does it work?

A microchip can easily be inserted by a veterinarian. The tiny ID tag is embedded in the loose skin with a needle at the base of your pet’s neck, usually between the shoulder blades. It only takes a few seconds to insert. Your pet will only feel a slight pinch as if he or she was getting a vaccination shot.

Inserting a microchip is just the first step. If you do not fill out your contact information, your microchip is useless. To fill out your contact information, go to the website of the microchip provider and create an online profile. If your contact information changes, it is important to keep update your most current email, phone number, and street address.

If your pet is lost and is taken to an animal shelter, veterinarian, or picked up by animal control, his or her microchip can be scanned to retrieve the information of the microchip provider. You will be contacted by the microchip company to quickly reunite you with your pet.

What does it cost?

Microchips cost between $25-$50 and often the additional veterinarian consultation fee. Many pet owners will have a microchip inserted during a yearly check up or after a pet is spayed or neutered and already scheduled for an appointment. If you adopt a pet from a shelter, it is likely your pet will already have a microchip. All you need to do is ask for the microchip information from the animal shelter and update your contact information. At Project Hope, we provide a microchip to all cats and dogs adopted from us.

Keep in mind, microchips are not tracking devices. They do not function like a GPS and do not use a power source to operate. To acquire the information from a microchip, your pet must be scanned by a microchip scanner which many veterinarians and animal shelter staff have access to own and operate.

To learn more about microchips, watch the video by HomeAgain: