The topic of Microchipping pets has come up recently, with people being concerned it costs a lot, hurts the pet, or never actually works.
First, no it will not cost a lot-the chip and then keeping the account up to date are a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Second, there should be only minor discomfort briefly, when it is inserted.
Third, it DOES work, provided you do your part to keep all your contact information up to date.
We have 2 chip stories, one happy and one rather sad, but with a good outcome in the end.
Cary the Yorkie’s story, 2006
My neighbor Mike had the most adorable 2-year old teacup Yorkie with an excellent pedigree, Cary, an intact male. I used to babysit Cary if his daddy had to go out of town.
Mike owned a summer house on Long Island, NY where he would live from May til September. Mike had installed a high wooden fence all around his property that was completely dog-proof, and made of solid wood, so there was no way people could peer and see the dog at all. r.
Sadly, one day, Cary disappeared. There was no way he had escaped. Someone who knew the dog was there waited for their chance, jumped the fence, and stolen him.
Mike was beside himself. He did the usual: missing posters, online posting, rewards offered, and more, but nothing. Cary was gone.
We had horrible visions of vivisectionists in labs, people torturing the poor dog, and more. But then, someone Mike knew had violated his trust and stolen the dog. We shuddered to think that he had been stolen for a puppy mill because was a top dog and would be able to breed.
One year went past, 2 years, but none of us ever forgot him. Three years, then four. Most people would have given up hope, but not Mike. He was sure Cary was out there. He had been microchipped, and he felt sure that sooner or later, Cary’s chip would be scanned and he would be found.
He WAS, but not in a place or way that any of us ever expected. It was about the time the recession hit hard in 2009.
One day, he got a phone call from a vet all the way down in rural Virginia. A family had found the dog wandering all alone on a country road.
He was all matted, covered in fleas, had not been groomed, and just looked a mess. As soon as they had sorted out those basic issues, they took him to a vet.
Cary was scanned, and sure enough, it got a result. Mike had always made sure the contact information was up to date (one of the most important things you need to do when microchipping). When he got the call, everyone in the building literally heard him screaming and sobbing for joy.
He caught the next flight down to DC, and was soon reunited with his beloved dog. Mike says Cary recognized him instantly and was thrilled to see him. The family was sad to lose him, but knew Mike was the true owner and had suffered for years over the theft of his pet.
We are guessing he was grabbed for or ended up in a puppy mill down south, but when the recession hit, a lot of people stopped buying puppies, so they just dumped him by the side of the road.
Whatever Cary’s adventures, his chip worked. He was re-united with his dad, and Mike got back the love of his life, who lived to 16.
Mickey the Bichon’s story, 2000
My mother was always a cat person, so you can imagine my surprise when one day, she came home with a urine-soaked mess of a dog she had found wandering on the highway. A few baths and a shave down later from a neighbor who was a dog groomer, he turned out to be a Bichon Frise.
His smell was bad enough. The urine stains on all 4 of his legs were even worse. They weren’t just stains–as we later figured out, the skin was burned by the urine to the point where he looked like he had sunburn.
My mother had never had a dog before, and wasn’t sure she could keep him, so she set out to find the owners. Mickey, as she called him, was a gorgeous 11-year old Bichon, and my mother felt sure that some sort of mistake had been made. She was sure he had wandered off, jumped out of a car or something had happened to cause him to be the way he was when she found him.
Her neighbors told her not to pursue it–she had already spent so time and effort getting him cleaned up and more like a normal dog. But she was certain someone might be missing the dog a lot.
She was just about to start sticking up posters everywhere when it occurred to me that there might be an easier way. I wondered if it was possible he had been chipped.
My mother brought him to the nearest vet, who had a scanner, and sure enough, he had been. She was able to get the name, address and phone number of Mickey’s owners, and called right away.
At first they pretended they had no idea what she was talking about and hung up on her. But she just kept trying. Finally, after the third call, they said, “Yes, the dog was ours, but we don’t want him any more. He’s old. He’s been peeing everywhere and is a filthy mess. If you want him, you’re welcome to him. Don’t ever call us again.”
It was pretty clear from what the vet saw that Mickey had urinary leakage problems, and had been made to lie in his own urine to the point where it had burned his skin. The former ‘owners’ had finally dumped Mickey on the highway rather than turn him in to a shelter and have people ask questions about the dark, filthy, matted coat, and the urine burns.
After that horrible phone call with the previous owners, my mother decided that one person’s trash was another’s treasure. She kept Mickey, gave him Proin for the urinary issues, and put him in belly bands to handle the leaking. He was her pride and joy for the last 8 years of his life.
The microchip did what it was supposed to have done. It’s a pity his former owners had not.
Final advice–Get your dog chipped, and keep all your contact information up to date. A collar or tag can be removed, but a chip is a permanent record of who your dog is and where they belong.
The bottom line: Microchip your pet, and there will never be a question of who the dog actually belongs to. And microchip your pet in case you ever get separated, so they can make their way home safely. And if you ever do have to surrender a dog, please do not just throw it out onto a street or highway. Contact a local rescue group. They are sure to have contacts who are happy to take an ‘owner surrender’ because they will not be traumatized or ill from the shelter system, such as catching ‘kennel cough’.
Reminder:
The two most frequent times pets go missing in the US are around the 4th of July, as they get scared by fireworks, and the first snow of the year if you live in an area which experiences that kind of cold weather. The snow interferes with their sense of smell and therefore direction, making even the smartest pet struggle to find their way home again. Be vigilant!
FURTHER READING
