Crazy!!!! I haven't thought of some of these things yet, because Remi is pretty much in my presence at all times, (puppy!) unless he's in the crate. We've initiated a new process for your reasons + the collar wound - by removing all collars/harnesses while he's in there. (Live and learn!!) Remi does seem to like the harness because he associates it with going someplace. The harness fits Remi fairly well these days; in the beginning, I was nervous about him slipping out of it. We do try to keep it fairly loose so it doesn't agitate him though. He seems fairly secure in it, and I feel like I can control him well without hurting him. Regardless, I don't really worry about him getting free on me. For me, it's the safest way to leave the house.
We got Remi microchipped 2 days after we got him, thank god. I'm guessing it won't help much against theft though.
I really like the security of the harness on my babies too .. and thankfully they also associate the harness with going for a walk and get excited when the see the harness come out but still don't like it enough to run around in it LOL they stay right next to me when the harness is on ... guess they have taken their walking lessons to heart and when the harness is on you stay right next to mom ... now that I've thought about it, I need to pat them on the head because they are being good babies, it's not that they don't like them it's because they are in the walking mode when they are on!!! did you see that light come on over my head?!?
As far as the micro-chip, it can't keep anyone from stealing our babies but then again a collar with ID tags won't stop them either, BUT at the vets office they get scanned and the info comes up registered to you it raises red flags