Pet Microchip

A needle is used to place a little chip under the animal’s skin, usually between the shoulder blades. That chip has a unique number on it that can be picked up and read by a scanner. It takes seconds to get your pet microchipped or about the same amount of time it takes to give any injection. Some people also choose to get their pets a microchip when their pets are being spayed or neutered. We recommend that trained veterinary staff implant chips because it does matter where you put them and how you inject them.

The American Humane Association estimates over 10 million dogs and cats are lost or stolen in the U.S. every year. Consider these statistics when it comes to lost pets and microchip success rates:

• One in three pets will become lost at some point during their life.
• A study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, including 53 animal shelters across the U.S., confirmed the high rate of return of microchipped dogs and cats to their families and the importance of microchip registration.

From the AVMA study

• Only about 22 percent of lost dogs that entered the animal shelters were reunited with their families. However, the return-to-owner rate for microchipped dogs was over 52 percent (a 238 percent increase).
• Less than 2 percent of lost cats that entered the animal shelters were reunited with their families. The return-to-owner rate for microchipped cats was dramatically higher at over 38 percent (more than 2000 percent better).

Only 58 percent of the microchipped animals’ microchips had been registered in a database with their pet parent’s contact information. And success stories abound! Many families have been happily reunited – even years later because their pet was microchipped. This is why we highly encourage our clients to microchip their pets. Are you ready to get your pet microchipped?

Click here to make an appointment to get a microchip for your dog or cat.