Mon, Tues & Thurs: 8:30AM – 7:00PM
Wed & Fri: 8:30AM – 5:00PM
Sat: 8:30AM – 1:30PM
Sun: Closed

Making Sure They Always Come Home – Microchipping

It is every pet owner’s worst fear – finding out that your beloved pet is lost and nowhere to be found. You spend countless hours looking through the woods, searching the neighborhood, and putting up “Lost” posters in hopes that someone may have seen your pet. Conscientious pet owners protect their pets with collars and ID tags; however, these are not foolproof. The collars can break or fall off, leaving your beloved pet as one of the countless, unidentified lost strays at the animal shelters/rescues. Fortunately, there is a small device that can aid in identification and increase the chances that your beloved pet will be returned home – it is called microchipping.

What are microchips?

Microchips are small, size of a grain of rice, implantable computer chips that encodes a unique identification number for your pet. The device is placed just under your pet’s skin between the shoulder blades with a needle and syringe, similar to when your pet receives his/her yearly vaccinations. These chips are designed to last the life of your pet unlike collar tags that may wear down, fall off, or scratch into illegibility. Most veterinary offices and shelters/rescues have compatible scanners that receive a radio signal to transmit the unique identification number back to the scanner. This number is used to find vital contact information (phone number and addresses) that the pet’s owner provided in the pet recovery database.

The Statistics

According to the American Humane Association it is estimated that 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 recent study published in the Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association confirmed the importance of microchipping dogs and cats and having them registered. The study revealed approximately 22% of dogs that entered the shelter were returned to their owners. However, the return rate for microchipped dogs was over 52% – that is a 238% increase! Cats had an even better return percentage with microchipping. Less than 2% of cats were reunited with their owners, while the return-to-owner rate for microchipped cats was over 38%. That is more than 2000% better! These studies help to demonstrate the importance of microchipping your pets.

The Process

Schedule an appointment with your local veterinarian to have this life-saving, low cost chip implanted into your pet. No anesthesia is required as it is a fairly non-painful procedure. Once the veterinarian has implanted the chip, make sure to register the chip in the database and keep it updated with your correct contact information. If you do not register the chip with your information in the database then your information will not be available for your pet to be reunited with you.


Come in today to discuss microchipping your beloved pet with one of our veterinarians or veterinary technicians.

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Mon, Tues & Thurs: 8:30AM - 7:00PM
Wed & Fri: 8:30AM - 5:00PM
Sat: 8:30AM - 1:30PM
Sun: Closed