Microchips - are they worth it?
It was great seeing our dog park buddies on the front page of the paper today. I think that it would be wonderful for Naples to add another off leash park - and a dog beach would be nice too. On a sadder note, the story about the Black Shepherd being euthanized despite having a microchip suggested a good topic - Is microchipping worth it? - YES - but the benefits are realized only if the registration information is kept current. Microchip manufacturers keep records of who the microchips are sold to, but rely on the pet owners to register their pets' microchips and update this information as needed.
In case you missed the story, the dog was found in Bonita by someone who took him home and called Domestic Animal Services. The dog was scanned for a microchip, and when one was found, the pet was taken to their facility pending contact with the owner. The microchip was originally registered to someone in the Miami area who was not able to be located, and the dog was later euthanized.
Unfortunately, this scenario is not uncommon. Years ago, my husband was in Greensboro, NC on business and spotted a small black cocker spaniel running frantically in the middle of a 6 lane highway. When he got to the dog, she was thankfully unharmed but scared, jumped right into his back seat, curled up and promptly went to sleep. After driving around for an hour unsuccessfully trying to locate an owner, he brought the dog home. I was relieved to find that she was microchipped - only to be disappointed that the chip was sold to the local animal shelter and never registered to the new owner. The information the animal shelter obtained at adoption was outdated. After all other efforts to track down the owner failed, Blueberry became and still is a member of our family. The owner may still be wondering what happened to her .
There are several microchip manufacturers - some charge a fee for registration . The ResQ chip, which we recommend, does not. We feel that the easier it is to register, the more people that will follow through, and the greater the liklihood of reuniting a lost pet with its family.
There are 2 basic types of microchips - ISO complient and non ISO complient chips - so not all are alike. For more information on microchips, visit our website at www.NaplesPetVet.com and click on the Hot Topics page.
If your pet has beem microchipped, please take a moment to make sure that registration is complete and all information current.
P.S. We have found homes for all of our kittens - now we need a home for Lollipop.
