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News & Events

Microchip helps long lost dog finds its way home
08-11-2009

A microchiprecently played a role in reuniting a long-gone dog with its family in Australia.

Muffy, who had been lost for nine years, was found 1,200 miles from her original home. The flea-bitten dog was discovered sleeping on a scrap of cardboard during a sweep through a house targeted by authorities after neighbors said the animals there were being neglected. An animal-welfare inspector found Muffy's microchip in her neck and tracked her owners.

Chloe Rushby, who was 8 when 3-year-old Muffy disappeared, and her mother were thrilled to have Muffy home again.

The glass-encapsulated computer chip, about the size of a rice grain, is usually inserted between an animal's shoulder blades. A scanner reads the ID code on the chip, which can be traced in a national database.

Melanie Monteiro, author of The Safe Dog Handbook: A Complete Guide to Protecting Your Pooch, Indoors and Out (Quarry Books, $19.99) is a fan of microchips.

“It's an absolute necessity because without proper ID, 90 percent of lost dogs won't make it home,” Monteiro said, noting that even a well-fitting collar or ID tag can come off an animal.

“In the early days of microchipping, there were several different microchipping companies that all used different frequencies, and it became a problem because the scanners would only read one frequency,” Monteiro said. “Now pretty much every animal shelter and every veterinarian carry universal scanners to read microchips.”

A popular microchip-identification service in Houston and San Antonio is 24PetWatch, which is used by the Houston SPCA, Citizens for Animal Protection and Humane Society/SPCA of Bexar County.

However, even if a dog or cat has a microchip, that doesn't ensure it will be returned to you if it gets lost. Microchips are not a GPS system.

This system works only if the lost animal is taken to someone who has a scanner and then contacts the ID service.

And the owner's information must be kept current, a task that is often overlooked, Monteiro said.

“A lot of times people don't think. They get a new cell-phone number or switch veterinarians, or they move. You've got to keep that info updated.”

By LANA BERKOWITZ

DFW's Ultimate Best 2010 - Best Pet Training