The Animal Guardian Society - registered charitable pet rescue and adoption organization.

Microchipping Your Pet

Picture of a microchip.

According to a 1997 study of 1,000 animal shelters across the country approximately 1,000,000 dogs and 584,000 cats were taken in as strays. Unfortunately for the owners’ and the animals, only 16% of those dogs and 2% of those cats were returned to their owners, thousands of those left behind had to be euthanized.

Why Should I Microchip My Pet?

Each year millions of lost and abandoned animals are taken in by animal welfare organizations across North America, of these animals only 14% of the dogs and 4% of the cats (estimated figures) are ever returned home. The major reason for failing to re-unite a lost pet with its owner is because the pets are unidentifiable. Microchipping offers pet owners the only truly permanent method of identifying your pet and linking the animal back to you, the owner. If you want to improve your pet’s chances of getting home in a lost pet emergency – microchipping is your best option.

 

My dog always wears a collar and tags why do I need to microchip him?

Collars and tags may be removed or get lost and tattooing can become illegible over time - Microchipping is the only truly permanent method of identifying your dog.

 

Does microchipping hurt the animal?

Animal microchips are about the size of a grain of rice and are typically implanted just beneath the skin between the shoulder blades by a veterinarian or trained member of an animal welfare organization. The process is similar to a vaccination and most animals do not react when the microchip is implanted. Once implanted the microchip remains just beneath the skin for the rest of the animal’s lifetime, a permanent form of identification.

 

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