Microchipping

Each year, thousands of pets go missing, and many don’t make it back home. Many pets do not wear collars or tags. Even if your pet wears a collar and identification tag, collars can break off and tags can become damaged and unreadable, so these forms of identification may not be enough to ensure your pet’s safe return. At Animal Medical Center, we recommend a form of identification that is reliable and cannot be lost, stolen, or damaged. A microchip is a safe, simple form of identification that can significantly increase the chance that your pet will return safely.

A microchip is about the size and shape of a grain of rice and is placed underneath your pet's skin between the shoulder blades. Microchip implantation takes only a few minutes and is very safe. Each microchip is unique and carries vital information about your pet, including your name, address, and contact information. Any pet can receive a microchip; it is a fast and easy procedure that does not require an examination to perform.

When a microchip is implanted, the pet owner is given a registration form to complete. Registering the number on the microchip includes your pet in a national pet recovery database. Our microchips are registered for life, no further fees are required. All you have to do is update your telephone and address information should it change or you move.

Veterinary hospitals, animal shelters, and animal control offices across the country are equipped with special electronic scanners that can detect the microchip and read the identification number. If a lost pet is picked up by animal control or found by a Good-Samaritan and presented to a veterinarian, a quick scan of the microchip reveals the identification number. A toll-free phone call to the pet recovery database alerts the microchip company that a lost pet has been identified. You can then be contacted and re-united with your beloved pet!