Yes, we had to have our rescue chipped, and not it was NOT relatively cheap; it was most of the cost of the adoprtion, and it expired after one year. The thing is still in her neck.
I feel ripped off.
Both my dogs are chipped (AVID) - it cost a one time fee of $20 each. Check your local spay/neuter clinic for prices.
What do you mean it expired? My dogs are chipped and it doesn’t ever “expire”. It’s just a chip that can be scanned and then their information can be read.
Some of the providers charge an annual fee to keep your information updated. Sounds like the type that would offer a deal to a rescue group to trap people into what they believe is a required contract.
Check with your municipality - if they register chip numbers you don’t have to worry about the fact that the database might be out of date (unless you lose your dog on a trip)
Although what you were thinking of was chipping, which doesn’t actually track the animal, there are cat cams. One of my friends has something similar and occasionally posts videos of what her cat was up to while he was prowling.
Both of my dogs are chipped; it was part of the adoption agreement. The chip is about the size of rice but the needle is a motherFUCKER!
Are you sure it’s not just the extra services that came with the chip that expired? My dogs have the Home Again chip and the company offered a bunch of other services like if your dog ran away, they’d alert all the other HomeAgain members in the area to keep a look out for it, and access to a hotline with counselors and things like that which were free for a year. Once my year was up, I didn’t pay the monthly fee so I lost those services, but the chips still work.
No, but I have petted implants.
I got my cat Hai microchipped two years ago. Did it the same she she was spayed and they only charged us another $30.
Our regular vet tried to scan the chip, but it seems to have moved. He said they sometimes do that especially in very active animals. He wasn’t concerned though, and said the pound has better scanners that should pick up her information if she ever winds up with them.
Since there have been changes/upgrades to the technology, I don’t think we’re creating a zombie thread here. But the Mods can advise if we are.
First, an important clarification: Typically, the ‘chip manufacturer does not maintain the database with the owners’ contact info. They make the ‘chips and sell them in batches to vet clinics, animal shelters, animal control facilities, biomed research labs, zoos, breeders, etc. Information about the implanted animals and their owners’ contact info can be included in a commercial database.
The 'chip manufacturer contracts/licenses the management of the database to another company. Sometimes the db manager is affiliated with the manufacturer, sometimes not. Typically, once the animal is implanted with a 'chip, the next step is to register the animal’s ID info and the owner’s contact info with the db manager. Depending on the brand of 'chip, there is often an additional charge for this, but not always. Sometimes, the vet clinic/animal shelter/breeder/etc. that implanted the 'chip takes care of contacting the db manager, sometimes the animal owner must do this.
“Registering” the 'chip with the database means that if the animal is found and scanned, the db manager will be contacted and the db mgr will then attempt to contact the person listed as the owner. Failing that, they will attempt to contact the “secondary contact”. Some databases will register only the 'chips of a specific manufacturer; other db mgrs will register any brand of 'chip. Each brand of 'chip has a unique code which identifies the brand. Thus, the agency scanning the 'chip knows which db mgr to contact.
Some of the problems with 'chips are mechanical, some are procedural.
Mechanical: some brands of 'chips have been known to “migrate”; some brands “fail” after several years (have your pet scanned at each vet visit to make sure the 'chip is still active); some agencies do not have “universal” scanners and will not be able to read the lesser-used brands; there are differences between the 'chip frequencies used in North America and the EU. An EU scanner might not pick up an NA 'chip and vice versa.
Procedural: Agencies do not explain clearly to the owner what type of registration service they are getting when they buy the 'chip. Are they getting individual registration with a db? Is the registration pre-paid with the 'chip purchase or is there an additional charge? Is this a one-time registration fee or is there a yearly fee? Will the agency take care of registering the animal or does the owner have to do it? Is there a fee to update/change info in the database?
IME, animal control agencies and animal shelters are notoriously remiss at not explaining to adopters (or pet owners who wish to 'chip their pets) whether the fee includes registration with a national (commercial) database or just registration with the local animal control agency as part of the county/city pet license requirement. Many owners/adopters think they’ll be contacted directly should the pet go missing and be scanned by a clinic/agency, but they won’t. The agency that bought the batch of 'chips from which their pet’s 'chip came might be contacted, but there’s no guarantee that this will lead to the owner being contacted.
As for brands, the one with the best customer service (in the USA) is HomeAgain. That said, they are very slick in their advertising by not making it clear that the first year of the pet’s registration includes a “complimentary” upgrade of services. At the end of the first year, they make it sound as though the pet’s info will be deleted from the database, but that’s not so. It’s only the upgraded service that expires, and not the pet’s basic life-time registration.
Hope you find this info useful. Regards,