Microchipping

Microchip identification is a highly effective way of reuniting owners with lost or straying pets. Although a collar with a tag is a great help, they can fall off or be removed – a microchip inserted by your vet means your pet will be logged on a nationwide register, so if he or she is lost or found a simple scan with a hand-held reader means he or she can be returned to you.

We have all heard horror stories of pets being put to sleep because the owner cannot be found. If your pet is chipped this can never happen.

A pet ID microchip is about the size of a small grain of rice. Each chip carries a unique 15 digit number which can be ‘read’ by a special microchip scanner which all vets, dog pounds and animal sanctuaries will have.

Under sterile conditions, the chip is injected under the skin at the base of the neck. This only takes an instant – for your pet it will feel much the same as having a vaccination injection. It can be done at a specific appointment but vets also often do it when pets come in for their Annual Health Assessment & Vaccination or when the pet is being neutered. It can be done at any age and it’s never too late to have it done.

After the microchip is inserted its unique number and your contact details are registered on a reunification database. This can be done online or by post. Once this is done your pet’s microchip number will relate to you so that whoever scans the chip and searches the database can find you and let you know where your pet is.

If your pet is found and taken to a vet, animal sanctuary, dog pound etc they will be scanned for a chip. If a chip is found then you should get a call within a few minutes. If there is no chip you may never see your pet again and there is a chance he or she may be put to sleep if a new home cannot be found. commitment

Finally, make sure that if you change your contact details or move house, you contact the database to update your details. The actual microchip is only half the equation – having the chip correctly registered is the other half, without this the chip means nothing. It’s like having a passport with no picture. No good!

From September 2015 it is a legal requirement that all pups are microchipped before they are sold by the breeder. It is also a legal requirement that the breeder completes a change of ownership form with you at the time of sale to ensure that the microchip registration is transferred to your name.

Law aside this always should have happened and whilst all this should happen, sometimes it doesn't. The chip itself will work perfectly well (in that it can be read by a scanner) but because the breeder may not have done all the necessary paperwork there is often a problem in that the chip is not registered to the pup’s new owner. As a result if the dog strays and is brought to a dog pound or vets they will not be able to track down the owner of the dog via the microchip number – the microchip is basically useless.

So if you have a dog that was microchipped before you bought him/her it important to ensure that the microchip is correctly registered to you on an approved database. In Blacklion Pet Hospital we always check the registration of any pet's microchip the first time they come to us and we correct it if necessary. Be sure to bring in all the paperwork you got with the puppy when you go to the vet with this query.

If this has not been done we - or any vet - can check this for you and if the information is incorrect or not registered at all we can assist you in correcting the information so that your pet can be efficiently returned to you - and also that you are compliant with the law. 

In short if you did not have your pet’s microchip inserted yourself you should check that the details on the database is correct so that your pet can be reunited with you. If these details are incorrect your pet may as well not be microchipped. If you are in Greystones or surrounding areas, ask us in Blacklion Pet Hospital for help if in doubt.