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Pet Microchips

If you’re even a casual reader of the Capitol Hill listservs, you can’t help but be struck by the number of lost pet/found pet notices posted every week. The fact is, one in every three pets becomes lost at some point in its lifetime. And according to the American Humane Association, only 17 percent of lost dogs and 2 percent of lost cats ever find their way back home. “The Incredible Journey” is a work of fiction.

In the past year, I know of at least three “stray” dogs running loose around Lincoln and Stanton parks who found their way back to their families once animal control was contacted.

What if it were your pet? What would you do if, say, workmen left the door open and your indoor-only cat slipped out into a world it had only ever seen through a window? Or if the garbage truck bumped your fence, giving your dog a sudden opportunity to take a long, long walk? Anyone who has worked in an animal shelter knows that these things happen.

The other thing we know is that collars have a way of coming off, and with them go the identification tags that might otherwise help your animal get back home. So if your pet is missing, you can’t just wait for the phone to ring or a friendly neighbor to bring your companion home.

If Your Pet is Missing …
First, call all the local shelters and leave lost reports. But then visit them in person and ask to see all strays. You have to go there in person because, although you say your dog is a mixed Labrador, the shelter may have logged in your dog as a mixed hound, or your “brown” might be their “tan.” Your lost report may not match the shelter’s perception of your dog.

Posting flyers in the neighborhood helps, as does asking people directly. Talk especially to children and mail carriers; they tend to notice the dogs and cats. And don’t give up. Although time is of the essence, I’ve known animals to be returned to their people months after they were lost.

Your chances of being reunited with your pet are best if you had the foresight to get your pet a microchip. A microchip is small transducer, about the size of a grain of rice, which is inserted under an animal’s skin. It is completely inert, safer in fact than any vaccine. It can be injected under the skin in seconds and is only a little more painful than a normal shot.

Many pet guardians’ initial reaction to the idea of a microchip is suspicion. It may seem like an intrusion of technology into one’s personal life – a kind of Big-Brother-is-watching-you scenario. In fact, however, if your pet is ever missing for even five minutes, it is a profound comfort to know that it is carrying a permanent ID.

The chip doesn’t send out any kind of waves or signals, nor does it create a magnetic field. Think of it as a bar code, like the ones on price tags at the store. It can be read by waving a hand-held scanner over the animal’s back. A unique number pops up on a screen, and then a quick phone call at any time of the day or night provides access to all kinds of useful data about the animal: name, address, owner’s name, phone numbers and e-mail … even the animal’s medical history.

Every shelter has scanners, and they check each animal that comes in. In our area, the animal control officers even carry them in their vans. Veterinarians generally keep one, too.

If your pets do not already have microchips, you can get them from your veterinarian. Animal shelters frequently insert them, and they generally charge less. Once it’s in, the microchip is there for life. But you do have to check it each year during your pet’s annual checkup – they have been known to “migrate” under an animal’s skin – and you have to keep your records up-to-date if you move or get a new phone number.

A microchip can easily save your pet’s life. Consider this: DC shelters are not obligated to take hurt lost pets to a veterinarian. The law allows them to euthanize injured animals upon intake. But the shelter will always check for a microchip and call the registered owner before taking that irreversible step.

So for your animal’s sake – and for your own – please get a microchip.

You may recall that there was some controversy in the past because there were different types of chips, which required different types of scanners. Some pet owners decided that, given this confusion, a microchip wasn’t worth it. This has now been worked out; these days, shelters all use “universal scanners” that can read any microchip.