Today, August 15, is Check the Chip Day. This day is meant to serve as a reminder for all pet owners to verify their pets’ microchip registration information. It is such a sad scenario when a lost pet is found by someone, scanned and found to have a microchip…but then when we call the microchip company they do not have current records on file for the family.
We had one of these very sad stories this past year. A very old dog was hit by a car and found by a good Samaritan. Once the dog arrived at Lawndale, we were so optimistic we could find the owner because we found a microchip number. However, after contacting the microchip company and attempting all the contact numbers, we were unable to reach the owner. The microchip was placed in the dog many years prior by an out-of-state veterinary clinic and none of the contact information was good anymore. Ultimately the dog had to be humanely euthanized due to severe and life threatening injuries.
Don’t let something like this happen to your pet! Use Check the Chip Day as your motivation to take a few minutes to verify contact information with your pet’s microchip company – and add this on your list of things to update if you ever move in the future! If you stop by our clinic between August 17 and August 21 for us to scan your pet’s chip, we will also give you half off a pet nail trim!
Check the Chip Day is also a great day to simply get the word out about microchipping. The process is quick and easy – check out our website for an overview and some videos of microchipping.
Since we believe in the importance of microchipping every pet, Lawndale is offering 20% off microchipping between August 17 and August 21!
Please also visit the AVMA resource page for Check the Chip Day for a list of microchip companies and more great information about microchipping.
Author: Dr. C. Noureddine DVM, MS