Around here, there was a big uproar a couple of years back when a dog bit a child to death. The government passed some absurd law that all animals need to have chips.
Our dog was over 10 years old at that time and having one more unnecessary operation was out of the question for us. Besides, the government is certainly not going to pay for the operation.
And what’s even more important: Now they’re demanding chips for animals, when are they going to demand id implant chips for humans?
For all the above reasons our dog hasn’t got a chip and will never have one.
…I’m not sure if it’s the law that’s absurd here. So far there’s no leash law for humans, but the same “slippery slope” argument applies.
And I wouldn’t characterize chipping as an “operation.” It’s equivalent to an injection.
My cats are chipped. One had HomeAgain and now has both that and Avid, because Avid was required for importation to St. Kitts. The chips were required as a way to prove the rabies certificate was actually referencing the animal in question (The chip number was written on the APHIS form before being signed and stamped and sealed etc)
The double chipping is a little annoying, as it means I have to contact two places every time I move; whoever’s scanning will stop once they get either chip’s number.
Optihut, it’s not an operation, it’s simply a matter of giving an animal a needle so the microchip can be inserted. It takes a few seconds.
Microchipping your pet is compulsory here in NSW and it’s a part of part of the Companion Animal Act (1998), which was designed to promote responsible pet ownership. It’s basically a cost effective means of keeping track of dogs and cats for the benefit of the wider community. Here in my state, NSW, around 80,000 dogs and cats are lost, injured or stolen each year. If they are impounded, they may not be able to be identified. Because they cannot be returned to their owners, they are held for 7 days and then euthanized.
My cat has a chip, it’s just under the skin between her shoulderblades. She’s registered with the company that provides the chip services for which there’s no monitoring fee. Also she has a collar with contact details on it, and a tag that says she has a microchip.
She’s an outdoors cat but not particularly adventurous so I don’t worry about her too much, I guess the chip is added peace of mind more than anything. It’s a one-off payment and the chip will remain with her for the rest of her life so once the job’s done, it’s over with.
One other thing to consider - when she goes to the vet for her annual booster shots, they use the reader to check that the chip’s still there and is still properly active.
Just got our parrot a chip (he has no leg band or ID otherwise and with birds you also want to have then certified as born in the country, you know)-- he barely even reacted whe they injected it and he’s usually pretty high strung.
Yep – although I didn’t realize it until your post prompted me to read his website more carefully, he’s with Southern Hope Humane Society. Glad to hear they’re looking good from down there – all I’ve heard is Marc’s perspective on it. He did great stuff for Buncombe County, North Carolina, and I figure he’ll do great stuff for y’all.
I can’t help but see chipping in the same light as Optihut. How long before they start putting them in children? How long before it becomes manditory to have your kids chipped? How long before the chip’s purpose becomes more than just for identification? Bad things happen some times and I’d rather risk the bad things than participate in such a disturbing trend.
Maybe I’ve read too much science fiction and cyberpunk for my own good…
The shelter I work with chips every bird larger than a cockatiel. The chip is inserted over the pectorals. We haven’t seen any adverse reactions - no ‘floating’ chips or picking at the implant site.
Leifsmama, methinks your imagination is getting away with you. After all, we euthanize animals that don’t have owners, and if we suspect an animal has rabies, we chop off its head and test it, and we eat animals, and we allow animals to run around naked, and we feed animals a meat-byproduct mush.
This isn’t a disturbing trend, any more than ID tags on collars is a disturbing trend.
I sometimes volunteer at the local animal sanctuary when I have time–so I’ve both seen and assisted with microchipping before. It’s a fairly low-key procedure, just a small injection.
I’ve usually seen it done in the area around the shoulder and the nape of the neck. I think it would be well-worth the investment to microchip all of my pets…
When we get new strays in the shelter–one of the first things we do is run them over the scanner to see if they’ve been chipped. If they are, then it makes it much easier to track down the owners to see if the pet was lost, or if it was abandoned.
We chipped our puppy on Tuesday. She took the jab well, but did bleed a bit after. She wasn’t too bothered - more concerned with the nuggets the vet gave her.
It cost 15 pounds (just over $20) through our vet. Definitely worth it for the peace of mind, IMHO.
Our dog is chipped. We got a “free” microchip when we renewed her tags. The county paid for the chip and procedure. I hope they still have the program going when it comes time to renew the cat. It is a huge relief to know that even if Jessie gets away, and her collar is missing, the animal shelter can still find us.
