Blog: Does Microchipping Protect Your Pooch?

On a quest to find my two lost dogs, River & Libby, over the past seven months, I have met many pet owners on the
 streets of Los Angeles. These are genuine animal lovers who have empathized with my distress and who own pets for whom they truly display love and affection and a high regard for their well-being. These individuals believe they will never be in my shoes—posting pictures on freeway entrances and busy intersections, desperate to have their little buddy returned. 

Flash back to November 2011: I, too, never imagined I’d be looking for my two precious babies who ran away while in the care of my in-laws while I was on a vacation with my family. Both my pets had a collar, with two separate tags displaying phone numbers, plus a microchip implanted in each of them.

While canvassing near Round Top Drive in Eagle Rock, I clearly remember this young hipster walking a Chihuahua he rescued from a school playground, smirking that his baby had a microchip and his baby would be returned if it were to ever stray. Wanting to educate him about the lawless veterinary microchip scanning guidelines, I kept my thoughts to myself.

Canine I.D.

For what its worth, pet lovers of the World Wide Web, let my unfortunate situation be a lesson to you. Please take these bullet points to heart:

• The microchip is in not a kind of GPS device. It will not track your lost pet.

• Veterinarians are not required by law to scan all new pets that come under their care.

• Veterinarians do not ask for vaccination histories if a client has a compelling story as to why they have no paperwork for the animal.

• Groomers are not required by law to ask new clients for a vaccination history.

• Microchips should be viewed as though they are a serial number, a last resort to connect owners with their property.

• In some rare cases, implanted microchips have been undetected when the animal has been scanned.

To Chip or Not to Chip?

As a pet owner, should you get a microchip implanted in your animal? Yes, absolutely. The microchip can be used as a form of identification to prove ownership of an animal.

In addition to a microchip, I recommend that you license your pet within your county.  The county will have a record on file of your animal and should the microchip fail to scan, a paper trail will lead your animal to you. Los Angeles county residents can find relevant information at the Los
Angeles Animal Services website, under the General Information tab, or by clicking this link.

If you plan to go on a vacation, do not leave your precious pet with family members or friends. Instead, consider kenneling costs while calculating your vacation expenses. The Petsmart PetsHotel offers 24-hour monitoring, daily walks and additional amenities.

Other Devices

Gardeners and construction workers are notorious for leaving gates open. Should your pet be outdoors, you may monitor it via your computer or smart phone with a collar GPS tracker. One such tracker is TAG—a pet GPS system similar to the ADT monitoring service installed in homes. It will alert you when your pet has left the area you designated as a safe zone. TAGG is a fairly new system and it does has some software issues, but it’s a great product for tech-savvy pet owners who are comfortable with receiving text messages and familiar with smart phone applications 
 

At this point in time, since our state legislation does not require all facilities administering services to pets to scan for a microchip, it is our job as responsible pet owners to be proactive and protect our four-legged friends.