Please Microchip Your Pets

Please Microchip your pet, You never know when you might need it. And to all the vets out there, I'm sure you always do, but please, always scan for chips!

When most normal folk adopt or rescue an animal, they do so with the intent to love and care for the critter, whether it be cat or dog, for the life of the animal. At least that's my presumption. But depending on the human, one's idea of how to care and contain an animal seem to vary widely.

I've seen how people keep their dogs and it ranges widely from letting their animals roam freely about the neighborhood like those "leash free" pee runs, to actually having fenced-in yards.

But even the yard controls seem to vary from home to home. Some yards are immaculate and well maintained and secure while others stay together via sheer will of momentum, barring any stiff winds or hard pushes with a little wet dog nose.

Regardless of how you feel about your own pet's security or inability to escape your oversight, it happens folks. Period.

There are nearly 14,000 animal shelters in the U.S., and almost 4  million companion canines enter those shelters each year, with just over a million dogs killed (code for euthanize) each year.

On average, of the dogs that come into a shelter, only 26% are returned to their owners, 35% get adopted out and the rest get killed if no one adopts them out or takes them into an already over-run rescue system.

To be honest most "got out" stories can end with a happy ending, but there are still many that don't.


There are so many reports of pet owners who become fraught or sick with worry when their beloved family member gets out, as their mind tortures them on where they could be? How cold, wet, or hungry might they be out there, on their own, or if they even are smart enough to not get killed by a car on the road. Too many times I've heard of lost pets that were so frightened they don't bother to dodge cars while they're still in high-gear, running from whatever they're afraid of. Dogs don't have our sense of logic. Well, the logic that most of us might have.

And through it all, a common factor I see in too many stories is when a stray is caught and they're scanned for a microchip, there is nothing there.

And thus the animal's journey of horrors and bewilderment truly begin as they're put through the system and the rigors of that hell. Or even worse, if they get snapped up from the shelter by the horrible, despicable people who run dog fight clubs.

But this could be avoided.

It does not take much time or money to have a chip installed in your pup (or even cat!), and it takes just a tiny bit more to make sure the information in the chip's online database is updated with current information.

It's that easy.

Heck, it's a lot easier than "invisible" leashes that aren't guaranteed to work, or pure, dumb luck faith that "Fido won't run away."

Please take the tiny bit of time and money and get your pup a chip.

For a wee bit more inspiration, check out this story about Finding Shelby.

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aspca




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