A $15 Microchip Clinic Saturday will help pet owners in Cumberland County and surrounding areas ensure their lost animals can be identified and returned home.
Focus On Cumberland County Animal Safety’s Ellen Rosenfeld said the handheld scanning machines used by shelters and rescues display a unique identification number when passed over a chipped pet.
“We see so many dogs that we can’t reunite with their owners,” Rosenfeld said. “It’s more or less just get the cost down, one, so that it’s affordable, two, so that we can buy more, and, three, we get the word out there to find the owner.”
Rosenfeld said the small chips are implanted like a shot and can sometimes migrate from the initial injection site between the shoulders to other areas of the body.
“We always tell the kids or tell the parents criss-cross applesauce, in other words start up at the the shoulders of the dog and scan down the back side of the dog and then over the shoulders of each dog,” Rosenfeld said. “If you still don’t do it, still keep looking, do a body sweep because they can move in some animals.”
Rosenfeld said many local shelters lack the budget to include microchips with every adoption because available funds are prioritized for food and staffing costs.
“If you update your vets, you take that information and put it in with the new vet,” Rosenfeld said. “If you just have to remember, update, if that makes any sense.”
Rosenfeld said the organization has previously provided chips for various animals including rabbits and ferrets.
The code number allows officials to access a database and find the contact information for the owner.
“The registration’s for free,” Rosenfeld said. “You’ve got to get through all the hoops as far as they offer you all kinds of other stuff on the websites once you do these go to register your dogs. But you can do your name, your phone number, your address, and of course the dog’s name and stuff.”
Rosenfeld said the event takes place from 1pm to 4pm. at the back entrance of Ales and Tails. Owners are encouraged to keep microchip information in their personal pet records and share the details with veterinarians, groomers, or boarding facilities.