Microchipping for 2,000 Cats at 3 Michigan Humane Society Vet Clinics

For cat owners, it’s a startling statistic: Nationwide, less than 2 percent of stray cats entering shelters are ever reunited with their families.

In Michigan, the chances of reunions are even lower. Less than 1 percent of stray cats were reunited with their owners, the Michigan Humane Society sid.

To increase the odds that lost cats are reunited with their families and to help save lives, Humane Society veterinary centers in Detroit, Rochester Hills and Westland are offering free microchipping to clients with felines.

The generous opportunity will be extended to the first 2,000 cats at the time of any MHS veterinary office visit or other paid service. The free microchipping will be provided by appointment only on a first-come, first-served basis.

“So much heartache is caused when thousands of area cats become lost each year and so few are ever found by their distraught families, but that can be easily prevented by taking precautionary steps such as providing your pet with proper identification,” Dr. Kelley Meyers, the Humane Society’s vice president of veterinary center operations, said in a news release.

“Lives are saved when pets have current identification to speak for them,” Meyers said.

A microchip, which is about the size of a grain of rice, is inserted between the pet’s shoulders in a process that is comparable to a vaccination.

Animal shelters (both nonprofit shelters like the Michigan Humane Society’s and municipal animal control shelters) and veterinarians have universal scanners that can be used to scan pets that are found as strays. If a microchip is detected, the unique, pet-specific code can be readily traced to the owner. A microchip is not a GPS locating device.

The Michigan Humane Society strongly recommends that all dogs and cats wear a collar with an identification tag, and in conjunction with this visible ID, be microchipped. If the pet’s collar and identification tags should fall off – or be taken off – a microchip could be his or her ticket home.

The Humane Society’s veterinary centers offer appointments Monday through Saturday. Please call:

• MHS Detroit: (313) 872-0004
• MHS Rochester Hills: (248) 852-7424
• MHS Berman Center in Westland: (734) 721-4195

The Michigan Humane Society is the largest and oldest animal welfare organization in the state. It works to end companion animal homelessness, provide the highest quality service and compassion to the animals entrusted to our care, and to be a leader in promoting humane values.

To learn more, visit www.michiganhumane.org.