nduring the disappearance of a pet can be one of life’s most painful and heart wrenching experiences. Microchips, using the same technology as supermarket bar codes, are currently being used for identifying and returning lost pets to their homes. A small microchip placed under the skin of an animal is a safe, simple and effective way to protect your pet and facilitate their prompt return.

The chip itself is passive inside the animal’s body and is activated only when read by a compatible scanner. It is a permanent identification system and implantation is done with an injector that places the chip under the loose skin at the animal’s shoulder. The very small microchip is encased in a tiny glass tube that is composed of soda lime, which is known for compatibility with living tissue. The glass is hermetically sealed to keep moisture out.

The microchip identification number is stored in a tiny transponder that can be read through the animal’s skin by a scanner emitting low-frequency radio waves. The frequency is picked up by a tiny antenna in the transponder, and the number is retrieved, decoded, and displayed in the scanner readout window. The radio waves use a frequency much lower than AM broadcast stations use and they must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission before they can be marketed.

Statewide dog license laws were developed to help return lost dogs to their owners. Unfortunately, they don’t work very well. Some people refuse to obey the law or do not attach the tags to the dog’s collars. Tags can be lost or slipped when a dog or cat decides to roam the neighborhood. Tattoos have long been used to provide permanent, visible identification should a dog get lost, but tattoos can be hard to find if a dog is aggressive or has a heavy haircoat. At this time there is no licensing requirement for cats and tattooing is very uncommon.

Therefore, the advantages of microchipping are numerous. The chip can be placed quickly and relatively painlessly, similar to the animal receiving a vaccination. It cannot get lost, although older models were known to migrate in the body. The chip number is unique and more and more shelters, veterinarians, and animal control officers are equipped with scanners. The pet does not have to be handled to identify the presence of a microchip and if it is there, the owner’s name and address is available on a national database so that the animal can be returned quickly and safely. The identification code is unalterable and will last for the life of the pet. Microchips can considerably reduce the stress on shelter capacity in the future and reduce the cost of housing animals by returning them directly to their owners.

The disadvantages are that, in the past, some microchips have been known to migrate and may not be found by a scanner. Until recently, there was no single scanner that could read the chips of all three United States microchip manufacturers. Now, new universal scanners that can reliably read all chips have come onto the market. So for the first time, a shelter can identify lost animals with a single scanner, regardless of the type of microchip implanted in that animal. These new scanners have been distributed to thousands of shelters and veterinarians throughout the country so that quick and easy identification of animals with microchips can be achieved. With this new technology, dogs and cats can be scanned when picked up by an animal control officer or brought to a shelter. If a chip is present, the scanner will read the number and the shelter staff can call the appropriate registry for the identity of the owner.

A simple chip, the size of a grain of rice, could save your pet’s life and save you a lot of heartache. Chips are available from your veterinarian and are manufactured by several companies. Costs will vary and there is usually an additional filing fee to register the animal’s identification number with a national database.

An excellent strategy in preventing pet loss would be to use a microchip as the primary, permanent identification system and to use a collar and tag combination as a visual, secondary backup. This will make it possible for anyone to identify a lost pet at a glance yet the pet will be protected if the tag has been lost. This high tech, low cost pet recovery system greatly increases the chance of recovery if your pet becomes lost.