Dr. Walt's happy tails: May 2003

The Doctor is In @ drwalt@petcareinsurance.com

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One of the concerns that veterinarians, pet owners, and shelters share alike is the quick reuniting of owner and pet when a pet goes missing. Few things bring a rush of angst more than the disappearance of a beloved pet and the anxiety in waiting for word as to their whereabouts is heightened by the current poor methods of reliable pet identification. Let me take a moment to briefly summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the various pet identification methods and to relay to you why I believe that microchipping represents the best pet identification method currently available to pet owners.

The simplest method of pet identification is the dog/cat tag. This can be a municipal license, a rabies tag, or a personalized tag. The strengths are that this method is relatively inexpensive and is quick and easy to implement. However, the weaknesses limit its usefulness. As the tags are attached to your pet's collar, they are often lost or can be easily removed giving no permanent means of identification. Also, with municipal or rabies tags, the specific owner must be retrieved through city hall or the veterinary clinic involved and this may not be possible for hours or even days, preventing a quick owner/pet reunion. Another concern is that this information is regional and may, therefore, not be easy to access if your pet is lost away from home. This may be avoided, to some degree, by personalized tags.

A second method of pet identification is by means of a tattoo applied either to the inside of your pet's ear flap or on the inner thigh region. This is generally used in purebred dogs for Canadian Kennel Club registration. This method's strength lies in the fact that it is a permanent means of identification. The weaknesses are defined by several points. First, tattooing is a moderately painful procedure that often necessitates an anesthetic to perform. Second, tattoos often become faded or distorted with age, making them illegible. Finally, the same potential delay in information retrieval exists as with tags.

A high tech method of pet identification, called electronic pet identification or microchipping, is rapidly gaining popularity. It involves the injection, using a standard hypodermic needle, of a small identification “chip”, about the size of a grain of rice, under the skin of your pet's upper back. Humane societies, municipal animal control offices, and most veterinary clinics have scanners, much like bar code readers used in retail stores, that can be passed over the animal and pick up the implanted microchip. The scanner recovery network spans Canada coast to coast and owner identification is quickly made by accessing a central computer data bank available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, by either phone or through the Internet. Therefore, this technology has no regional boundaries and will even be helpful in identifying your pet should he/she become lost anywhere in North America, Europe, or Asia, all of which have well-developed microchip programs in place. Veterinary medical associations, and shelter and humane groups all recognize the benefits of this form of pet identification and have position statements favoring its adoption as a more commonly used form of pet identification. Recently, many municipalities have moved to incorporate microchipping into their licensing program, often offering savings over the more conventional tag approach, especially if your pet is also neutered. This method avoids all of the pitfalls associated with the previous two identification methods, however does have one disadvantage -- the microchip is not visible so a scanner must be used to identify the pet. To overcome this, most microchip manufacturers will provide the pet owner with a tag that lets the individual finding your pet know that the animal has a microchip.

My belief in microchipping is so firm, I have both Dharma and Charlie (my two yellow Labradors) microchipped. Fortunately, I have not had to rely on this technology to date but I do take great comfort in knowing that should they become lost, a quick trip home is simply a scan away!