Microchips help owners if pet are lost

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July 29, 2007

By MEGHAN DURBAK The Kokomo Tribune Sun Jul 29, 2007, 11:05 PM EDT

It was over in less than 30 seconds.

With quick, dexterous movements, Jessi Shaw inserted the needle in between the puppy’s shoulder blades. A small microchip — the size of a grain of rice — now lay just beneath his skin, forever marking him with a permanent identification number.

“He didn’t even make a sound,” said Jeana Watson with a smile. “Little ones are hard to do.”

Watson, an animal care technician, lifted the Chihuahua mix in her arms and brought him to his grateful owners, David and Elizabeth Love.

For $15, the Kokomo Humane Society offered to microchip a variety of pets, mostly cats and dogs, Sunday afternoon. No fewer than 30 pets were seen by the animal care technicians. Since February, the animal shelter has been offering the service as a way to help owners locate their pet should it go missing, said shelter manager Jackie Vore.

“We scan every animal that comes in,” she said. With the identification number, Vore said most animal shelters, veterinary clinics and rescue groups can locate the owners, either through their own database or by calling the maker of the microchip.

The humane society uses a company called 24PetWatch. According to the company’s literature, 8 to 10 million lost, abandoned and homeless pets enter animal shelters each year in North America. Only 14 percent of dogs and 4 percent of cats who end up in animal shelters go home.

Those are the statistics that convinced the Loves to microchip their 9-month-old puppy, Crumpler.

“He’s a little loving,” said his owner, Elizabeth Love. “He’d be the one out of the two (dogs) that would either wander off or get taken.”

They had their other dog microchipped previously at a higher cost.

Cost is what held Megan Morris back from getting her dog Zoey microchipped. She was excited to learn she could microchip her pet for far less than she could at a veterinarian’s office .

Morris said she’s had her pitbull since she was 5 weeks old. Though Zoey is a pitbull, Morris said she is friendly and mischievous. “Sometimes she flies out the door and I chase her every time. She lets me get real close and takes off again.”

“(Now) if she gets lost they can find her for me,” Morris said.

Andrew McFatridge has lost a dog before. A few months ago, he lost his Boston terrier mix, Lulu. He didn’t want to see that happen to his new dog, Zeke, a 3 1/2 month old gray-and-white husky Labrador.

“It’s definitely worth $15 instead of losing your dog,” McFatridge said.

Many people feel that way, Vore said.

“We want to make it affordable. We want to get the pets back home as soon as possible,” she said.

She said the process has been around for nearly 20 years.

“It’s becoming more and more common.” Vore said. She credited the new trend to affordability, as more companies offer the microchip.

Vore said the animal shelter will likely be open for microchipping on the last Sunday of every month. They also offer the process throughout the week for $20.

The Kokomo Humane Society, located at 713 N. Elizabeth St., is open Monday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call (765) 452-6224.

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