microchipping. who's pets are and aren't? your thoughts?

[Mugzilla]

all of my animals are microchipped. i personally find it very reassuring that they are. my dogs never wear identification in the home or in the yard (they HATE jingly things). the only time they have identification on is when they have their harnesses on during walks or park time. not only that, i hear all of these horror stories about dogs getting out/lost or even stolen. collars can come off or be taken off, but microchips are there to stay. murphy's law would have it that the time that your beloved pet gets out, they might not have their collars on

i really value the added sense of security microchips offer and feel it's money well spent. as a doggy foster,
i LOVE finding a dog and discovering he/she is microchipped so that a happy reunine can be made even for those who haven't updated their contact information (and therefore cannot be reunited with their lost pets), the company
you call about the microchip can usually tell you the date of birth and sometimes other helpful information regarding the rescue/foster dog

i have every animal of my own microchipped and i get all of my rescue/fosters microchipped and put myself as the alternate point of contact on the chip registration, so that even if a new owner fails to update their contact info after a move, etc, mine is still there and i always have the new info for the new forever homes i find :D

once a year, my vet does a 'free microchipping month' where he pays the microchip registration fee (usually about $25) and will microchip them for you for free

 

[cali~jenn]

We have both our boys chipped and I agree it gives a great sense of relief knowing that they are permanantly id-able. Although the sad truth is if our boys got out it would be hard to imagine we would get them back there are so many thiefs out there these days. I figure it is better to be safe than sorry for sure!

 

[Mugzilla]

very true cali! *hopefully* at some point (even if it's after thieves try to breed them and then are in need of vet care for a c-section) they will take them to a vet at some point and the vet will be wise enough to ensure the chip ID comes back to the supposed owner-and when it doesn't, take the appropriate actions.

 

[cali~jenn]

I do wish it was a law for the vets to scan them nomatter what and make sure they are with who they should be with. That would be nice, maybe someday.

 

[Mugzilla]

fortunately, my vet does always scan and ensures the id matches the name of the person claiming to be the owner. hopefully that will catch on!

 

[Bulldogg]

I have a question. If they scan the chip, all they get is a number right? Do they actually go type this number into a database and see if the owner matches? I think not. We need to rally this practice! Unless someone reports a dog that matches the description to the vet, do they even take the time? Hmph. They should. I mean, what is the purpose if someone steals your dog? All they gotta say is, "oh I bought it from someone", and it is a done deal.

 

[Mugzilla]

I have a question. If they scan the chip, all they get is a number right? Do they actually go type this number into a database and see if the owner matches? I think not. We need to rally this practice! Unless someone reports a dog that matches the description to the vet, do they even take the time? Hmph. They should. I mean, what is the purpose if someone steals your dog? All they gotta say is, "oh I bought it from someone", and it is a done deal.

very true in almost all cases bulldog! good point and certainly something that needs to be looked into and addressed on a national level!

my vet takes it upon himself to contact whatever company the chip is with and verifies that the name registered on the chip is the same as the person's name that brought the dog in unless he put the chip in himself and knows the person to be the rightful owner. if they don't match, he contacts the name/number listed on the chip and if it's still a valid number, verifies that the dog was indeed sold, re-homed, etc. if the dog was simply missing, he gives the person that came in claiming to be the owner the opportunity to do the right thing or contacts the authorities if they don't seem inclined to do so. (the chip company gives him the names/numbers. i'm not sure they will to just anyone, but they've given the names/numbers directly to me as well just for saying i was a foster/rescue volunteer).

he has ran into some rough characters over the years and some very PISSED OFF people that bought the dog from someone who got the dog from someone else, etc. and they feel they're entitled to keep the dog, even though it was stolen from the rightful owner by who-knows-who. but he has yet to fail to make the happy reunion when there is a valid contact number and the dog turns out to be lost or stolen.

i really wish every vet was required to go this extra mile!

 

[cali~jenn]

I wish all vets did this also. Or if nothing else we should be able to report our dog as missing and the vets can scan and see a warning flash right away instead of just a number, to prompt them to look further into it. Honeslty nobody has ever scanned my boys to check which is surprising.

 

[TessaAndSamson]

Samson is microchipped. He wears his collar with his ID on it whenever no one is home. If I am home I take it off because I am sure it is more comfortable that way but I figure if someone breaks into my home, theres a fire or something while I'm gone then my phone number is easily accessible right there on his collar.

 

[Knuckles73]

why cant someone invent a GPS that can be imbedded like a MC??

 

[LisaRN]

We didn't.. I probably should have at neutering time.. but mostly for the fact that it's not mandatory to scan and I really hate the thought of putting anything into the body - even just under the skin - that shouldn't be there. Maybe it's just all my years of working with implanted hardware in orthopaedic patients that overwhelmed me with the thought of "yup, my dog will be the one to get a nasty infection from the darn thing"..

 

[mammyglicks]

Mine is microchipped and i figure since they aren't diligent with scanning, i'd be calling every place around giving them a heads up. Not that it would help but you never know.

 

[laurentourville]

Samson is microchipped. He wears his collar with his ID on it whenever no one is home. If I am home I take it off because I am sure it is more comfortable that way but I figure if someone breaks into my home, theres a fire or something while I'm gone then my phone number is easily accessible right there on his collar.

i only put horse's collar on when we go outside, he has gotten his collar stuck on the cabinet handles and random other things in our house and if i wasnt there to help him, he would've choked to death, so now i never leave his collar on when he is alone! not sure if he is just accident-prone or if this happens to other bullies, but just something to keep in mind.

 

[Libra926]

Both Vegas and Orion are chipped also. Vegas gets run of the house when we aren't home, and his collar that he has on easily pulls over his head. We are not worried about him getting it stuck on anything. Orion always has a collar one because she is fast and we need SOMETHING to grab onto as she darts by. I feel good about the microchipping, but I'm with those who want to make the scanning mandatory. Vegas and Orion are very popular at our vet office, so if they were ever brought in by someone other than my husband or I, we would get notified. If they were to take them to another office, who knows. It makes me nervous. I don't have to worry about them being stolen for breeding purposes, we took care of that when they were 6 months old. I'm sure of 2 things 1) If Vegas was stolen, it would only be a matter of time before he ended up a the vet's office. Without his daily meds, he would eventually have a seizure. 2) If Orion was stolen, someone is almost sure to return her after 24 hours with her. She literally bounces off the walls, and cries if she doesn't have stinkybear 1, 2, or 3 to suck on at night.