Recently, I have seen an increased number of people either looking for their lost pets or lost pets looking for their owners posted 
on Facebook. Obviously, the very best ways to retrieve your pet is collar tags, but most importantly by microchipping your pet. The likely-hood of finding your pet can be greatly increased with proper identification. Tags are important to keep on your pets collar, but they can be damaged and lost. A microchip stays with your dog forever.
It is heartbreaking to loose a pet. The avenues that you must investigate can be exhausting. Newspaper ads for lost pets, searching the neighborhood, posting flyers, visiting the numerous shelters and fosters nearby. Many times your dog might be just a step behind you when visiting the shelters. Sometimes dogs are shipped to other shelters that have more room and the chances of you finding them at that point is unlikely.
Without proper identification the chances of finding a lost pet are as low as one in five. In a recent study involving over 7,700 stray pets, the number of non-microchipped dogs that were safely returned to their owners was just under 22%.
For about a one-time cost of $45 at your local veterinarian, a microchip can be injected into the dog. The chip will last for over 25 years, which is well beyond the lifespan of all but the most exceptional hounds. YOU MUST REGISTER THE CHIP WITH THE MICROCHIP COMPANY! The chances of finding your pet increase by nearly 30%: The same study of 7,700 stray pets revealed that dogs with implanted microchips have a 51.2% chance of being reunited with their owners, a near 30% increase over those without.
How the Microchips Work:
The brilliance of a microchip implant is its simplicity. No bigger than a grain of rice, a pet microchip is a radio-frequency identification transponder made up of just a few components encased within a slender capsule of bioglass, which is used extensively for implants in both humans and animals. Some microchips have anti-migration features to ensure capsules stay in place by bonding with the tissue under the animal’s skin.
A microchip’s sole function is to store a unique ID number that is used to retrieve a pet parent’s contact information—it differs from a Global Positioning System, which is used for tracking, and requires a power source such as a battery.
When a microchip scanner is passed over the skin of a microchipped pet, the implanted microchip emits an RF (radio frequency) signal. The scanner reads the microchip’s unique ID code. 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.
Most animal shelters and veterinary hospitals in the U.S. have global scanners that read pet microchips from most manufacturers. Once the shelter or veterinarian scan the dog, they will retrieve the identification information and the owners will be contacted!
Remember too, if you find a stray dog or cat, take it to your nearest veterinarian or animal shelter and ask them to scan the animal for identification.
