Microchip Success Stories
Registered microchips give lost pets the best chance of returning home.
- The American Humane Association has stated that more then 10 million dogs and cats are lost or stolen in the U.S. every year.
- One in three pets will become lost at some point during their life.
A study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, including 53 animal shelters across the U.S., has confirmed the high rate of return of microchipped dogs and cats to their families, and the importance of microchip registration. From the study:
- Only about 22 percent of lost dogs that entered the animal shelters were reunited with their families. However, the return-to-owner rate for microchipped dogs was over 52 percent (a 238 percent increase).
- Less than 2 percent of lost cats that entered the animal shelters were reunited with their families. The return-to-owner rate for microchipped cats was dramatically higher at over 38 percent (more than 2000 percent better).
- Only 58 percent of the microchipped animals’ microchips had been registered in a database with their pet parent’s contact information.
What can you do to protect your furry friend?
Protect your pet by having your veterinarian microchip your pet and substantially increases the likelihood of your pet returning home
Some of our many stories of successfully returning a pet due to microchip:
- We were presented with a very nice dog who had been found on a busy local street, This dog turned out not only to have a microchip, but to have been reported as stolen. Because he was chipped, we were able to return him to his home.
- We were presented with a kitten to be spayed. She'd been found as a stray . Since she
had a microchip, we were able to contact the owner. Turns out that she’d been missing
for a week, from a home 30 miles away. The owner was elated that she’d been found. Because of the distance she’d traveled, there is almost no chance she would ever have been returned to her home without her microchip!
- A pretty little terrier was picked up and brought in because she was playing in traffic.
Thanks to her microchip, we were able to return her to her home the same day.
- A client found an extra dog in his backyard one morning. He brought the dog to the clinic to be scanned for a microchip, and through the chip, we were able to locate the dog’s owner. It turns out that he had jumped out of the truck while the owner stopped to run an errand. Not likely that he would have found his way home on his own!
- A stray dog was brought to our clinic for a check up and vaccinations. We scanned for a microchip during the examination, and she had one. When we called the owner, and let him know that we had a dog with a microchip registered to him, his response was "A 3-legged German Shepherd? She's alive?! I thought she was hit by a car!” Turns out she'd been missing for about a month, and was found more than 30 miles from home. The owner thinks she got over the fence, and we suspect she was picked up by a passer-by on the road, who took her home. They were happily reunited that evening.
- Last month we had two separate occasions where dogs were brought in and scanned for microchips. Both had microchips that the owners forgot to update with their new contact info. Sadly, we were unable to reunite these dogs with their owners.
Laveen Veterinary Center cannot express the importance of microchips and would like to remind all pet owners to update their pets microchip registration when phone numbers and addresses change. Microchips work, they get lost pets home.
- Microchips work. They get lost pets home.
- Update your registration when you move!
