Microchipping your pet is a safe, easy, effective way to permanently link your pet to you and provide you with peace of mind. At Gibson Animal Clinic, we recommend microchipping your pets even if they stay indoors.
Separation from your dog or cat can happen way too quickly and easily. Microchipping is the most reliable way to reunite pets with their owners because collars and tags can fall off and get lost, and tattoos will eventually fade or can be removed.
Microchips are electronic devices that are about the size of a grain of rice. They are not tracking devices, they do not have a battery, they do not need to be charged; microchips are designed to last the lifetime of your pet. They are injected under the skin over the back of the neck between the shoulder blades. At Gibson Animal Clinic, we can implant a microchip during any visit as the procedure is similar to a routine vaccination.
Each microchip has a unique identification number that is registered in a national directory and can be read by a portable scanner. Animal hospitals, pounds, shelters, and humane societies across the country are equipped with scanners that they can use to identify lost pets immediately. What happens is that these universally compatible scanners are used to read the identification code on the microchip. The microchip registry is called, and the registry company uses the ID number to retrieve the pet parent’s contact information from the pet recovery database, and then you are notified of your pet’s whereabouts.
At Gibson Animal Clinic, we use the Pet Link microchip. All you have to do is register your pet once the microchip has been implanted, and then keep your contact information updated with the database should you have any changes.