May is National Microchip Your Pet Month
Microchips enable shelter workers across the country to reunite pets with their families. Every pet - including indoor-only animals - should wear a collar and tags as identification. This serves as identification, so if your pet is lost, anyone who finds the animal will know where the pet belongs. However, what happens if your pet gets out of your home without its collar or manages to slip off the collar along the journey somewhere? The pet is left with no identification and its chances of being reunited with family decreases.
A wonderful addition to the collar and tags is a microchip. A microchip is an integrated circuit about the size of a grain of rice that is implanted just under the skin of the animal. This is done as an injection and is nearly pain free for your animal. The microchip is programmed with an identification number that is read by a microchip scanner. This identification number is registered with the microchip company and all registered microchips are stored in their data base. When an animal is scanned, its unique microchip number comes up, and then the finder contacts the microchip company for the owner's information.
Pets with a microchip have a much better chance of making it home. When you have your pet microchipped, it is exceedingly important to register your information with the microchip company and to keep your information updated. When you move, updating your information with the microchip company should be on your moving
checklist. The microchip is not effective if the information is incorrect or was never registered.
No matter how experienced a pet owner you are, accidents happen and there is always the risk your pet could go missing. Help to ensure your pet's safety and return home with a microchip.
Microchipping is available at our quarterly drive-through vaccine clinics for only $20. There is no exam fee or appointment necessary. Our next clinic is from 8:30 - 10 am Saturday, May 11. All residents from Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Laguna Hills who purchase a microchip for their pet will receive a free gift. Licensing services are also available to purchase a new or renew an existing pet license.
For more information, visit cmvas.org
