How do pet microchips work?

More than 10 million pets are lost every year. Only 1 million are found after wandering frightened and disoriented, though it does not mean they get back home. These family pets are found by passers-by, strangers, dog-catchers, yet these dogs and cats and their owners are never brought back together. Regrettably, a rare dog or cat finds its loving owner. A large number of pets turn out to be in shelters specialising in the welfare of animals where they rescue and care for animals. The fact remains that those few dogs that get lost and luckily found, either sick or perfectly healthy, end up in the local shelter. Such shelters persistently search for the animal’s owner in the vain hope to keep these lost puppies alive, but many are still euthanized because of lack of home or caretaker, illness and over population. To be fair, some dogs have personalized identification tags or unique collars that their owners used in order to keep them safe, but after being astray from their owners for a long time, such collars in many cases get lost, and tags are difficult or impossible to read.

However, there is a way to make it easier to find a lost pet. A simple procedure of dog and cat microchipping increases the chances for success and involves placing a microchip under the skin of an animal. A tiny chip provides permanent identification of an animal, as it cannot be removed, lose the recorded information or become illegible. This small, electronic chip is enclosed in a grain-of-rice size glass cylinder.

The technology does not require any batteries, as the сhip is read by a scanner passed over the pet's shoulder blades. The scanner emits low frequency radio waves that activate the chip and transmit the microchip's unique cat or dog ID. This number is shown on the screen and the pet is identified. Such microchips are also called transponders. They are placed under the skin with a hypodermic needle. The pain can be compared with a usual injection, even though the needle used is slightly larger. The whole procedure takes only a few seconds.

There are various clinics that offer microchipping, one of them is Crossroads Animal Clinic in Houston, TX. This quick procedure does not require the use of anaesthetics. The chip is usually put between the shoulder blades and scar tissue forms around the jagged edges on the microchip to keep it from moving.

Dog and cat microchipping helps reunite a lost animal with its owner. It also helps shelters reduce expenses for housing, food, medical care, outplacing and euthanasia. Scanning animals for a microchip is the first thing they do when a lost animal is brought to a clinic or shelter. Owners should remember that their lost pets will be returned only in case the owner information on the microchip registry database is right and updated. Microchips are great for permanent identification and give the improved chance of finding the pet’s owner.