How will you find your pet if it is lost? How will you prove a stolen pet is yours? Finding permanent pet identification is important in pet recovery, but just how effective are microchips in the array of choices?

-What is a Microchip?

A microchip is a small device, about the size of a grain of rice. They are implanted by a veterinarian, usually above the spine in the shoulder area, just under the skin. The procedure is quick and relatively painless. The microchip uses Radio Frequency Identification technology and holds an individual code for each unit. This code can then be used to trace the owner or veterinarian who implanted the chip. If a pet is found a veterinarian, or shelter, can use a scanner to check for a chip and scan it for the code. They then have to contact the provider of the chip who will release the information on who the chip is registered to. In such a way the original owner can be identified and the pet returned.

Although microchips are most often used on cats and dogs they can be used on any animal. They are in use on horses, being injected on the left side of the neck, and have been used on other pets, livestock, and even wild animals.

-Pros of Microchips

1. They are required by law in some areas.

2. It is a form of permanent identification, and cannot fall off or be removed as can a collar.

3. It can be used to settle disputes of ownership.

4. The scanner is clear to read, unlike tattoos which can be difficult to read on some pets.

5. They are a quick recovery system, sometimes a pets owner can be traced before they report the pet missing.

-Cons of Microchips

1. They cannot be seen, as such people may assume a pet is unwanted and keep it, never realizing it has identification.

2. There are many types of chips and not all scanners read every type of chip. Therefor a pet with a chip might be scanned and nothing detected.

3. Very rarely the chip moves and might be harder to find, or missed completely.

4, If the pets owner does not keep their current contact information up to date, it make be impossible to trace them if they move.

5. Microchips are not a GPS system, as some people assume, the microchip does not indicate where a lost pet is, only who it is when it is found and scanned.

6. Sometimes owners of microchipped pets become complacent to the fact that errors can occur and chips can be missed. As such they may not make trips to the shelters to look for their missing pet, or be active in the recovery of their pet in other ways. In effect they just assume that when the pet is found it will be traced back and they will be notified, when in fact, they should also contact shelters and be active in looking for their pet.

-Alternatives to Microchips

Collars with tags are great and highly visible, the problem is that they do fall off or can be removed. Tattoos may be used, and are often in a pets ear, stomach, or inner hind leg. They are more visible than a microchip, but less visible than tags, however tattoos are permanent.

Most definitely all pets should have some type of permanent identification, even indoor cats, just in case of emergencies. A pet can have more than one form of identification.

Learn more about this author, Brenda Nelson.
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