About Pet Microchips
Although the number of dogs euthanized in shelters is a small fraction of the estimates that have been bandied about for years, there are still too many healthy dogs dying because their owners can't find them and too many owners heartbroken at the loss of their pets. There are also lots of stray dogs that wind up in rescues, no-kill shelters, and with new owners because the original owner cannot be located.Statewide dog license laws are designed to help return lost dogs to their owners, but they don't always work well. Few people obey the law, and many dogs lose their collars and tags somewhere between the yard they escaped from and the truck that carts them to the shelter.
Owners of purebred show and breeding dogs have long used tattoos in order to comply with the rules of identification of the American Kennel Club and to provide permanent, visible identification should their dogs get lost. Many pet owners also tattoo their dogs to prevent loss. But tattoos have a drawback as well; although they cannot get separated from the dog as tags can, they can be hard to find and read if the dog is frightened, aggressive or has a heavy haircoat, so few shelters make the effort.
Enter the microchip, which is a tiny transponder the size of a grain of uncooked rice. This is a permanent radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip implanted under the dog's skin and read by a chip scanner or wand. Implantation is done with an injector that places the chip under the loose skin over the dog's shoulder.
The advantages are obvious — the process is very quick and no more painful than a vaccination, the chip can't get lost, the number is unique, the dog doesn't have to be wrestled to the ground and shaved to see if it's there, and the owners name and address are available on regional or national data bases so a dog can be returned quickly and safely.
The chip ID number is stored in a small transponder that can be read through the dog's skin by a scanner emitting low-frequency radio waves. The frequency is picked up by a tiny antenna in the transponder, and the number is retrieved, decoded, and displayed in the scanner readout window. The radio waves use a frequency much lower than AM broadcast stations use, and they must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission before they can be marketed.