Microchipping was the promise of a permanent identification for the life of a dog.
It seemed miraculous -- a subcutaneous bit of glass and electronics, just a little bit bigger than a piece of rice, that could be linked up to your name, address, phone, Social Security number, web site address, etc.
If a dog lost a collar or you changed your address, it would be no problem to check the registry and find Bowser again.
If your dog was lost on the opposite side of the country, stolen, or sold on, the dog could still be found.
But that's not how it has worked out, at least not all the time.
Things started to fall apart quickly.
Twenty years ago, when microchips were just starting out, the folks in Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia agreed on a standard 134.2 kHz microchip, now called the ISO standard microchip. The first pet microchip companies in the US, however, were AVID and HomeAgain, and they partnered with vets (who profited handsomely) to sell a 125 kHz microchip that could NOT be read by the ISO readers.
In addition, AVID encrypted its microchip information so only facilities with an AVID scanner could read the chip at all -- a way to sell more expensive scanners at the cost of canine and other animal lives.
Eventually, scanners were made that could read both kinds of microchips, but even now not all vets and shelters have them, nor do these universal scanners work all that well all the time (tests show that some scanners miss up to 40% of all chips).
Another major problem is that the folks who get their pets chipped are a little confused about the concept. The chip should be registered to the dog's owner, not the veterinary clinic that implanted it, or the breeder or pet shop that sold you the dog or implanted the chip. This is a big deal.
For instance, when Moxie and Misto got their rabies vaccines, they also got ISO-chipped, but it was up to me to register the chip on line, and this point was not stressed.
The good news is that I got my name, address, email, telephone number, and web site in the data base. If I had just put in one bit of data, however, what good would that do do if I changed addresses, phone numbers, or emails? And who is out there to remind folks to update their registry information when they change address or phone number? Another problem!
And YES, I just updated the microchip registry with my new address and I got new slide tags for all the dogs.
Another problem (how many more can there be?) is that even if you put in a chip that is read at a shelter or vets, and the data in the registry is good, which registry is your chip linked to?? Who knows! There's no universal pet registry, which means your information could be with a registry that is not being checked. The good news (and yes, there is good news) is that there is now a Microchip Lookup tool hack put together by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) which now scrapes most of the data out of most of the systems.
The problem is that there is still one asshole company -- AVID -- that is not playing well with others. This company would rather turn a profit through price-gouging than actually save canine lives.
So what bit of advice can I offer?
- Get your dog microchipped with an ISO chip. Every time you go to the vet, make sure they can read the chip. Despite all the problems with microchips, an ISO chip with your up-to-date information in the data base is always the right thing to do, for both you and the dog.
- Put every piece of information you can into several data bases -- your name, address, phone, email, web address, relative's address, etc. Yes, you can register ANY chip with ANY of the data bases. The more times your chip is in a data base, the more likely the dog is to be returned to you. NO, you do not have to keep paying to keep a dog registered, though some registries try to make you think you do (including the AKC's registy, from what I have been told).
- Keep a nylon collar with slide tag on your dog all the time. A slide tag, unlike a dangle tag, will not wear through at the contact point. Check the information on the slide tag several times a year, and update with a new tag as needed. Count on the tag to get your dog returned to you, not the microchip. Where to get a slide tag? I recommend Boomerang Tags.
7 comments:
I also waded through the morass of the microchipping. I chose a company called 'PetKey.org based in Michigan. I told them that I travel extensively. So they sent me what I believe to be an ISO chip. The registration is lifetime, one time fee. So I will see how this goes. I hope I never need it. And my dog DOES wear a slide tag on her collar. I do not like dangle tags, too much of a snagging risk with them.
I use the Found Animal Registry. Takes all comers, and it's free -- run by a 501(c)3.
https://microchipregistry.foundanimals.org/
The worst is when people mistakenly believe that a chip is some kind of magickal GPS device and then are actually DISAPPOINTED when that turns out to not be the case.
Since most of the chip readers seem to be able to read all types of chips now, my one major complaint about AVID (which is used by some shelters and most breeders) is that there is a charge to change any information about the owner or the pet. I am diligent enough to update my information when I move, but it's just another hassle to have to be nickel-and-dimed for such things.
I do not mean to be "Debbie downer", but discussing chips with my vet, I was on-the-bubble about the whole issue. Told him that situations in my life which dog could get lost were almost nil. He candidly advised that the physical chip itself, once implanted, can migrate under the skin to locations that may cause problems for the dog. He occasionally has to remove and re-implant them. I decided against implantation. Just another question to ask your own vet, and decide for yourself. -- TEC
One more problem is that chips may move. I had a puppy dig out and end up in the dog pound. He was chipped, but yhe chip migrated to near his elbow, and they didn't find it when they scanned. I only got him back through repeated calls to animal control.
I have a pet dog that I recently got from a pet adoption center. I have lost a dog a few years ago and despite all the effort I've given no luck came into my way since I never found him that's why I'm thinking about this microchip thing. I've read some stories about this where they lost their pet for like 6 month but then found them and was able to identify them with this microchip thing. But it seems like it still has some issues.
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