Microchipping

The importance of microchipping your pets cannot be stressed enough. With all of the pets who go missing, end up stolen, or land in shelters, a microchip is the one form of identification that cannot fall off of them. If you didn't know, most Shelters only hold stray dogs for 48-72 hours before either adopting them out, sending them to another shelter, or euthanizing them. Some dogs also end up in shelters that are not local to where they live and probably a shelter you may not think to call if your pet is missing. You can protect your dog from this time line by simply chipping them. If your dog is found by animal control, the first thing they do is scan for a chip.

Is your pet chipped? If you said NO, don't wait any longer.

There are many options for where to have your pet chipped. You can visit your regular vet to have it done, there are usually chipping clinics at dog events, and there are also many low cost Spay/Neuter/Microchip locations. For more information on low cost options you can contact your local Animal Shelter or Humane Society; many No-Kill Animal Shelters offer these options on-site also. You can also email your local CBRR rep, they would be happy to let you know of a place in your area to get your pet chipped.

After having the chip implanted, to many people forget the next step of registering it. Your pet's new chip must be registered in order to work properly. CBRR finds Home Again one of the easiest brands to register and update especially if you have a computer. Your pet's chip will come with a packet of information and a registration number unique to your dog. With Avid your registration must be mailed in with payment, for Home Again you can visit their website and register the chip online.

If you move you need to update the information on the chip. For each chip brand you update the same way you first registered the chip. One of our volunteers has her personal dogs all registered with Home Again, when she moved a few years ago she jumped on the computer right before packing it up and updated the dogs' chip info with the new address, it was fast and free for the update so there was no excuse not to do it.

Part of being a good pet owner is making sure all the steps are done to ensure the safety of each pet. Like making sure your fence is secure, and your home is safe, also make sure your pet is Microchipped just in case the unthinkable happens.

Home Again: Tails of Happy Endings
stories of how chipping has helped pets and owners reunite