This one’s for you if your pets are microchipped
You’ve no doubt heard me – either verbally or in print – nag you about microchipping your pet. I know, I can be relentless in my convictions, especially when it comes to animals. Hey, I’ve pretty much devoted my life to our furry feline companions so I’m entitled to a few opinions here and there. And….. I am, after all, a Wagner. Inside joke that only family members and close friends will get.
But, no I’m not going to get on the “microchip your pet” bandwagon again. This time it’s for those of you who have stepped up to the plate and had your pet microchipped. So, you’ve done the good deed. Have you registered that microchip? Or, if you’ve moved have you changed your contact information in the registration database?
Here’s a couple of recent FieldHaven stories that were near misses for owners who thought, because their pets were microchipped, their bases were covered if the pet got lost. Fortunately, these stories have happy endings so please don’t be fearful about reading on.
The first story involves a kitty being found outside Home Depot near where FieldHaven is located. The store employees, after noticing kitty hanging around for several days lookingto share their lunch, contacted FieldHaven. We scanned kitty, as we do all kitties that come from unknown whereabouts. Ta-Da! Jackpot! A microchip was found! We all did the Microchip Happy Dance and, while imagining how happy we were going to make some family who’s worrying about their lost kitty, called the microchip registry for the owner’s contact information.
The call was made to the phone number provided by the registry only to find out it had been disconnected. No forwarding, alternate or emergency numbers were recorded in the microchip database. Not even the name of the organization or vet who had implanted the chip. How frustrating!
However, an email address was in the database so a FieldHaven staff member dashed off an email and kept her fingers crossed. The email didn’t bounce back so now all we had to do was wait and see if we got a response.
In the meantime, we checked lost reports in our database and contacted local vets and other area shelters. No kitties matching her description had been reported missing lately.
Our efforts were rewarded with a return email from the kitty’s owner who joyously came to retrieve her. She had recently moved and kitty had gotten out of the house and disappeared. Hopefully, by now she has contacted the microchip registry and updated her information.
The second story happened when a FieldHaven kitty was picked up as a stray by a municipal animal shelter in a neighboring county. There was no owner registered to the microchip when the shelter called the registry but it was on record as having been implanted by FieldHaven so they contacted us. We cross-checked our database and found the person who had adopted the kitty several years ago and lived on the very same road the kitty was picked up from. Contact was made with the owner who redeemed him the next day.
You might be thinking that this situation was all under control because FieldHaven, after all, had the contact information for the owner, right? Well, possibly, but it could’ve turned out much differently.
This kitty came in and was classified as semi-feral because he was very fearful. I was told by the shelter staff that he would not have been moved to adoptable status because of that semi-feral status. All shelters do scan cats before euthanizing, even feral cats. But, if there is no registered owner to the microchip they have no one to contact to redeem the cat. It’s likely the cat would be euthanized. Even though they know it was owned at one time if there is no way to contact an owner the cat will be classified as unowned.
Not every agency that implants a microchip does as we do at FieldHaven by having our name stay in the registry to contact, if all other contacts fail. Think of the first kitty who was found at Home Depot. The registry had no record of what organization, veterinarian or shelter implanted the microchip.
For every microchip we implant we encourage the owner or adopter to register an emergency backup in case they are not available. What if you’re away on vacation when your pet goes missing? Even if all your microchip information is up to date, if no one can reach you then there’s a chance your pet’s life might be at stake.
So, if your pet is microchipped take a few minutes to make sure all the information in the microchip registry is up-to-date. And, if they’re not microchipped – well, what are you waiting for?
If your pet does go missing here’s a few things you can do to alert those around you to be on the lookout:
1) Post flyers in and around your neighborhood
2) Visit your local veterinarians and pet stores and post flyers
3) Don’t call the animal shelters in your area – go visit in person. Often shelters are very busy and receive so many animals each day that they may not have complete information on each one that is coming in. They do post incoming animals to their website as quickly as possible but there may be a delay. And, if a cat arrives in a very fearful state they may not be able to scan it right away. This happened to a relative of mine recently. Her microchipped kitty had been missing for several days when she visited the local animal shelter and found him. Just that day he had calmed down enough for them to put on the schedule to be examined and scanned that afternoon.
Microchips are a wonderful tool to protect your pet from being lost – but
There’s more information on FieldHaven’s website on what to do if your pet goes missing – http://www.fieldhaven.com/library.htm
