If my time at the clinic has taught me anything it’s that animals who have no reliable mean of identification are often the ones that are picked up by a friendly passerby. They in turn bring them to our clinic in hopes of helping reunite the lost pet with their owner.
The first thing we do when this happens is grab our microchip scanner and run it over the animal. Best case scenario we get a microchip number, contact the company to obtain the owners information and voila pet and owner are reunited. The next best scenario is that the animal has a tattoo. Tattoos though are fickle. They have some major disadvantages, for instance they fade and become ineligible. If we are lucky enough (I am talking about the “find a 10 dollar bill in a lonely snow bank” kind of lucky) to read the tattoo clearly, we then call the clinic that applied the tattoo, and from there they look into their systems. Hopefully we track an owner down. Lastly we have the collar, often time though the said lost animal has not only managed to slip away from home but from its collar, so we very rarely ever resort to it using it.
Microchips are by far the most reliable means of identification. An animal cannot escape its microchip, if your indoor kitty has suddenly turned into an outdoor adventurer fret not IT HAS A MICROCHIP! If your dog has slipped out if its collar in a feat worthy of Houdini fret not IT HAS A MICROCHIP! Mind you someone still has to come across your lost pet, but once someone has found your pet it becomes infinitely easier to track you down and reunite you with your pet.
What type of pet needs a microchip? Every pet! Indoor kitties, dogs who are “strictly on leash”, and pets who already have collars and/or tattoos. With a quick and affordable needle poke you can provide your pet with a trustworthy and reliable means of identification.
To find out more about microchipping at Mission Ridge Animal Hospital in St.Albert give us a telephone call today: 780-458-3833
