Microchipping
Each year thousands of pets go missing, and many of them never make it back home to their loving owners. Clarke County Animal Hospital wants to help you keep track of your pet and make it easier to find them should the unthinkable happen and you get separated. Many pets get lost and are never returned to their owners because collars and tags can unexpectedly fall off or become damaged or unreadable. If you choose to have your pet microchipped, you don’t have to worry about a mishap such as this, since microchipping is a method of providing permanent identification for your four-legged friend that is reliable, and can’t get lost, stolen, or damaged.
A microchip is a safe, simple form of identification that can significantly increase the chance that your lost pet will be returned to you. It is about the size of a grain of rice, and is implanted under your pet’s skin between the shoulder blades. The procedure takes only a few minutes and can be completed during any visit to Clarke County Animal Hospital.
Each microchip has its own unique registration number that is linked to your pet’s vital information including your name, address, and contact information. When you have your pet microchipped, you will be given a registration form to complete. Registering the number on the microchip includes your pet in a national pet recovery database. It is very important to maintain current contact information; if you relocate, or change addresses or phone numbers, update your information so that you can be reached.
Veterinary hospitals, animal shelters, and animal control facilities across the country are equipped with scanners that can detect the microchip and read the identification number. When a stray pet is brought to one of these facilities, it will be scanned for a microchip. Upon discovery of a microchip, a call to the pet recovery database will alert the microchip company that a lost pet has been identified. The pet owner can then be contacted and reunited with his or her pet!
Whether your pet is young or old, an outside pet or an inside pet, get your pet microchipped today. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that your pet is permanently linked with you. At Clarke County Animal Hospital we scan all strays for a microchip in an attempt to reunite lost pets with their owners because we love stories with happy endings.