We found Iris at a local shelter. This beautiful sweet dog appeared well taken care of and loved. Who could not be searching the world for her? Maybe someone was travelling through our area and she got out of the car and got lost? Maybe someone found her in one City and took her to a shelter in another (where her people wouldn’t have known to look…this happens a lot). We don’t know and will probably never know.
While Iris has a happy ending because we found a great home for her, her story could have turned out much different – she could have been reunited with her original family.
Iris had a collar, but no identification tag.
Providing a collar and identification tag for your pet is their easiest ticket home if they are found by an individual. Check frequently to be sure the engraving on your pet’s tag is readable because sometimes the engraving gets scratched or wears down from friction if there are other tags on the collar. We prefer plastic tags with deeply etched letters (an added benefit is that plastic tags are less expensive and don’t heat up in hot weather which can irritate your pet’s skin). We currently use Lucky Pet tags.
Iris had not one, but two microchips
To protect pets even further, owners turn to microchips as an essential backup in case a collar or tag comes off. Microchips aren’t GPS trackers so that you can locate them if they wander off, instead microchips are tiny permanent responders, about the size of a grain of rice, implanted under your pet’s skin. If a pet is found, a veterinarian or someone at an animal shelter can scan them with a special reader which picks up the unique identification number stored on the chip. With that information, they can find the microchip registry who in turn has the owner’s information in their database and can contact them.
Iris was scanned at the shelter and found to have not only one, but two microchips implanted – neither of which were ever registered. Without the microchips being registered, there is no way to find the owner.
People have the very best interests of their pets in mind when they have a microchip inserted, but without the extra step of registration, they are useless. Make sure when your pet is microchipped that you understand how the registration process will work – whether the clinic inserting the microchip will do the registration or if you will do it. If the clinic is doing it, ask how you can update the record so that you can go into the account at the registry within a few days and make sure all of the information was input accurately.
Most microchip companies will register any brand of microchip – no matter what manufacturer actually made the chip. We currently use 24petwatch.com which is a free registry.
Every pet that comes into The Animal Protectorates gets spayed or neutered, vaccinated and has a microchip implanted. Donate $35 today to provide an orphaned pet this extra layer of safety.
Iris was adopted!