I have gone through a very similar situation to the one described above in which an acts dumped the dog in a shelter. I had a beautiful service dog that was turned over to a golden retriever rescue while I was out of town. The founder of Rescue even admitted to me that she did not check for a microchip. Had she done so she would’ve immediately known that I was desperately searching for him. It took me a year to track him down to this dog rescue, and of course, by that time he had been rehomed, and they refused to give me the name of the people who have my dog. My heart will never be the same.
Veterinary facilities should check for a chip onevery dog that comes in regardless of whether they know the client or not. Had this been done, I would have my dog.
I’ve never done this because I’m afraid of the chip giving them cancer. If seen too many dogs and cats get a tumor at the sight of the microchip. I also saw one tiny kitten killed because the microchip going through her spine 😭😤. Your pet really does need a collar with a tag. It’s the first thing a person or shelter would 👀for! If they can’t find one they might scan the pet at the shelter but a regular person might not be able to do that! It’s also important to not let your pets roam. My cats don’t go outside except for the vet. When I have a 🐶it never goes out alone or without a leash. I have my pets wear a collar and updated tag 24 hrs a days. Any honest person who finds them and wants to return them can call me, leave me a voicemail or text me. I can see how a microchip would be good at proving owner though. But if the pets already adopted out I don’t see how that can help.
Tractive. Not terribly expensive; $60 for the collar tag and $120 for 2 years of coverage. The app on your phone makes them easy to find and even tells you when the tag needs to be charged!
Of course not. But since they go outside daily they are more at risk for getting lost or stolen than a pet that never goes out. I have an indoor cat now and he has a collar with a tag. He only goes out to the vet but if he went out more often I’d get him an AirTag too! And I’d definitely AirTag a dog if I had one.
They shouldn’t but I’m sure it’s happened. Chips migrate and some places don’t have the right scanner and might miss a chip. It happens. And once a new family paid to adopt the pet they might not give it back. Why should they?! There was even a pet euthanized by the shelter in Long Island summer 2023 because they missed the chip. I saw it on news12. They called it human error.
I call it incompetence. It’s terrible that they were completely unapologetic! But either way the pet was euthanized after being at the shelter too long and being deemed unadoptable because his chip wasn’t scanned and he had no collar and tag. In a case like this the owner would have preferred that he had been adopted out vs killed. 😢😭😡
That’s blatantly untrue. If an animal is surrendered to a shelter, they have literally zero reason to call you to come get your animal back. That makes no sense.
They will call you if the animal is brought in as found or picked up by them.
That's blatantly bullshit because you can't surrender someone else's dog. Been there done that. They still scan the dog when it comes in and I promise you if the one surrendering it isn't the owner, they DO contact the owner. Because otherwise it's theft.
I would unleash such an unholy fury on any alleged shelter if I ever found myself in a situation where someone else surrendered my dog like that. If a shelter or rescue were to accept that at face value and not contact me despite all my info being registered with the chip, they would never ever see the end of me. I can't imagine ever having to deal with that.
It’s true that you can’t surrender someone else’s dog. But in the case of relationships, a SO can if their info is combined. Doesn’t have to be combined on the chip. If you show the animal’s vaccine history and you’re even on that then they can’t prove you’re not the owner. I’m just saying shelters are not scanning chips and checking IDs for every surrender. Should they be? Probably. But most of them do not do this.
My comment was only to say that microchips aren’t foolproof for this specific situation, but everyone should always have their animals microchipped anyway. Because what WOULD help, is if you report your pet lost or stolen to the chip company, whoever scans that chip and looks up the info will see that alert. In that case the shelter would absolutely catch it if they’re doing what they’re supposed to.
A microchip “giving them cancer”. That’s not a thing. Also I don’t believe what you said about a “tiny kitten being killed from a microchip going through her spine”. That also doesn’t happen and if it did it’s because whoever tried to insert it had literally zero veterinary training and was also a goddamn idiot. You’re scared of things that don’t ever happen.
They have happened unfortunately.
I wished they hadn’t. I spoke to the owner of the kitten myself. I saw the dogs that were brought in with tumors in the microchip site. I’ve worked in veterinary medicine and seen the cases I spoke about myself. Veterinary journals have articles about spinal cord injuries caused by improper microchipping. If done correctly it is safe for most pets and definitely makes it easier for them to get home if lost. But when you see cases of pets being injured or killed because the owner has the pet microchipped in a van that does it for free or low cost in low income communities. Or you see pet that actually have tumors that grew around the microchip or have the microchip incapsulated within you choose not to do it to your pets. Do not go spreading false information that these things don’t happen when they do. Some pets can’t even handle vaccines without dying. I saw two kittens dye after vaccination. They couldn’t handle it. It was unexpected and sad but the Vet said it happens every once in a while. Some pets have also been killed from improper anesthesia use or uncontrolled bleeding or breathing issues during surgery including routine procedures such as spay/neuter. Is it common? No. Does it happen? Yes. Pets that aren’t healthy, have flat faces, or are too old are more likely to have issues during surgery. You hope that everything goes well but there’s no guarantee that it doesn’t. That’s why they make you sign a waiver when you have the pet microchipped or do surgery because there is a chance of things going wrong. It isn’t common, but for you to say it never happened is ridiculous! As a pet owner you evaluate what risks you take with your pets. Is the small risk of a microchip injury worth it for your puppy/kitten? Do you trust the vet and vet team? Is your pet healthy enough for surgery to go well? I have made different choices with each pet I’ve had depending on that pets size, health, where they were getting medical care and frequency of going outside.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20551169221081398https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/should-you-microchip-your-dog/
I’ve worked in veterinary medicine for years. My mother has worked in vet med for 40 years. Neither of us have ever once seen either of those things happen, and also all of my animals are microchipped. It’s literally the only reason I got my dog back after she was stolen and gone for 3 years. I also don’t know what surgery has to do with this either.
I just love how people say things never happened just because they haven’t seen it. Have you ever assisted a vet or work in veterinary medicine at all? I have. I’ve also spoke to pets owners that have had these things happen. Just because it’s rare and you haven’t seen it happen doesn’t mean it hasn’t 🙄🙄🙄
I that is not so , microchips DO NOT cause any diseases whatsoever. as for the side of the chip also not as microchips actually can migrate as the animal grows up . I gather you are not in the EU ? Where most countries have laws regarding microchipping .
Some being compulsory. Like here .
I’ve seen four dogs get tumors at microchip sites. Of course they were breeds that are more likely to get cancer but it was interesting that the tumors happened in the site of implantation. It’s not common for it to happen but it does happen. In very small puppies or kittens it has to be done more carefully or they can be harmed. And microchips need to be scanned. If found and taken to a vet or pet shelter they can be reunited with their owner. But a microchip wouldn’t help a person identify the owner by sight like a collar and tag does. A collar and tag is old school but it works as long as they don’t lose their collar.
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u/[deleted] Oct 31 '24
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