Microchips and Your Pet

Wondering if you should microchip your pet? Learn more below...

Registered microchips give lost pets the best chance of returning home.

The statistics indicate that missing pets rarely make it home:

• The American Humane Association estimates over 10 million dogs and cats are lost or stolen in the U.S. every year.

• One in three pets will become lost at some point during their life.

A study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, including 53 animal shelters across the U.S., confirmed the high rate of return of microchipped dogs and cats to their families, and the importance of microchip registration.

From the study:

• Only about 22 percent of lost dogs that entered the animal shelters were reunited with their families. However, the return-to-owner rate for microchipped dogs was over 52 percent (a 238 percent increase).

• Less than 2 percent of lost cats that entered the animal shelters were reunited with their families. The return-to-owner rate for microchipped cats was dramatically higher at over 38 percent (more than 2000 percent better).

• Only 58 percent of the microchipped animals’ microchips had been registered in a database with their pet parent’s contact information.

High-tech protection can prevent heartbreak.

Enter the pet microchip — a simple, elegant product of our high-tech age. No bigger than a grain of rice or more costly than a month’s supply of pet food, a pet microchip and enrollment in a pet recovery database brings lost pets home and provides peace of mind that your beloved companion will never wander unknown.

Veterinarians (and MVP) encourage microchipping.

And with good reason—microchipping substantially increases the likelihood of a pet returning home by offering secure, reliable, unique and permanent identification.

Microchipping is safe, easy, effectively reunites you with your lost pet, and can offer additional value.

• Pet microchips can be implanted quickly, and easily.

• No anesthetic is required. The procedure is similar to a routine vaccination.

• A pet microchip does not contain a battery, nor does it need to be charged.

• Unlike traditional collar tags, pet microchips do not wear down, fall off, or scratch into illegibility.

• Microchips are designed to last the life of your pet.

• Globally compatible scanners read the unique identification code on the microchip. This code is used to retrieve the contact information that the pet’s parent has provided to the pet recovery database.

• Microchips for pets are surprisingly inexpensive for the value.

*This article is provided by www.petfinder.com in partnership with HomeAgain.