Remember Willow, the calico kitty who went missing from her Colorado home, then was miraculously found five years later in New York City? She has to be one of the luckiest felines in the world. Due to the Squires family’s very astute decision to have her micro-chipped, they have been reunited and one very happy kitty has been returned home.
Many pet owners fear pets going missing. This can easily happen when you move across town or across the country. According to Home Again, the nationwide petID and recovery service, one in three pets will become lost during their lifetime, and sadly, 90 percent of them will never return home without identification. Home Again is the micrchip company that powers our two Great Danes, Marley and June Bug microchips.
Even though responsible animal owners collar their pets with identification information, collars can fall off, becoming discarded by the animal, or, much worse, be removed if the animal is stolen. External devices fall short in providing permanent identification information. What is even more alarming; there has been a 32 percent increase in the theft of pets from 2010 to 2011, according to The American Kennel Club. Micro-chipping is the only permanent, reliable method, since it cannot be altered or removed and has a unique code that links the animal back to its owner.
Every day pets become lost and will never see their family again because they didn’t have a simple, yet effective tool to reunite them with their family. However, inserting a microchip is the simplest and most important step a pet owner can take to ensure that a lost pet returns home safely. I believe every pet should be micro-chipped, and right now, not enough pets are protected—it should be as common as a collar or ID tag.
How does micro-chipping work? Since the microchips are no larger than a grain of rice, they are implanted by a veterinarian using a hypodermic needle. This simple procedure is similar to giving the animal a vaccination. Since the discomfort pets may experience is about the same as a "shot," veterinarians rarely use local anesthesia.
The micro-chipping procedure is quick and safe and can be done at a local vetinarian hospital. This inexpensive and permanent device is the best hope a pet owner has of protecting a lost or stolen pet. I think it cost Lori and I somewhere between $35 and $50 to have each of our dogs microchipped. Check with your vetinarian for their cost, it is money well spent as far as I am concerned.
Included in the Home Again microchip is lifetime registration, permitting the pet owner to update their contact information, if necessary, at no additional charge. Provided is a tag with instructions if the lost pet is found. Make sure your pet undergoes a routine microchip scan during every hospital visit to verify the emission by its actual owner.
What are your thoughts about micro-chipping? Share them in a comment.
Bob Abner (Huff Realty) is a well-respected, top Realtor in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati real estate market with vast experience in the real estate industry. For Northern Kentucky Real Estate Listings and Home buying and selling Information visit: http://www.BobAbner.com
