Straylight Savings Time – Check your pets’ microchips
Spring is here, time to spring our clocks forward, change out smoke detector batteries, and work on spring cleaning chores. But there’s one more thing pet owners should do every spring – make sure you pet’s microchip is registered and up-to-date!
More than 10 millions of pets are lost or stolen every year, and 1/3 of all pets go missing at some point in their lifetime (source). Some staggering numbers around return-to-owner rates:
- Only 22% of dogs without microchips are returned to their owner. That number jumps to 52% of dogs with microchips that are returned home.
- Less than 2% of lost or strayed cats without microchips were returned to their families. Cats with microchips are reunited with their families 38% of the time – a 2,000% increase.
- Only 58% of pets’ microchips are registered with contact information to return the pet to their owner (source).
These numbers show that it is very important to make sure your pets’ microchip information is up-to-date with your contact information so they can be returned to you in case they are ever lost.
How to Register or Update Your Pets’ Microchip
Registering a pet microchip is easy, takes a few minutes, and is often free!
First you will need the number of your pet’s microchip. If you adopted your cat or dog from A.R.F., it will be on a sticker on their yellow adoption contract, the outside of their purple folder, or inside on a small bar-coded sticker. If you do not have your pet’s microchip number, take them to your vet to be scanned (a painless, quick procedure).
Next, look up your pet’s chip manufacturer. Go to the AAHA Universal Pet Microchip Lookup and enter the chip number in the search box. The result will tell you which company manufactured the chip (and where you need to register it). This chip is manufactured by Found Animals Registry.
Lastly, click the link to the manufacturer and follow the instructions on the website for registering the chip with your contact information. Most chip registries are free and registration is done online in a few minutes. Easy, see?
Below are links to the major chip manufacturers’ registration websites:
- Found Animals Registry (the majority of A.R.F. pets have chips from Found Animals Registry – free registration
- AVID – $19.95 enrollment
- AKC Reunite – $19.95 enrollment
- SmartTag – free registration
- PetLink – $24.99 transfer fee
How Does Microchipping Work?
Microchipping is an easy procedure where a grain of rice-sized microchip is placed under a pet’s skin, usually at the back of the neck. The chip’s number can be seen through a chip reader that is waved over the pet. The number is registered with a database of chips, and lookup can be preformed at any time. A.R.F. alumni pets that were adopted through us are all microchipped.
However, not all microchips are registered with pet owners’ names – once a pet is adopted the owner needs to update the central registry with their contact information so that the pet can be reunited if they are ever lost or strayed. The information needs to be updated every time the owners’ contact information changes.
How Do I Get My Pet Microchipped?
Its easy! Your vet can quickly insert a microchip at your pet’s next visit. Chips are fairly inexpensive (typically under $50) but pricing it up to your veterinarian.
