Microchips must be registered. Otherwise they are worthless bits of glass and metal.
We faced the sad situation today of good Samaritans who brought in a dog slightly injured by an automobile, but with no resources (or willingness?) to pay for his care.
We scanned him for a microchip and, voila!, he had one! We called for identification and contact information and, voila!, it was still registered to the humane shelter in Arizona from whence he was adopted. A mere 1,461.01 miles away, according to MapQuest.com.
No doubt his owners have moved here from Arizona, and with a little luck and hard work the shelter workers at the Humane Society Of South Mississippi have found them through the Arizona shelter. If the current owners had simply registered the chip after they adopted the beautiful black dog, we could have saved a lot of steps.
Now we may never know who they are.
Brindle’s story clearly demonstrates that even with the passage of many miles and much time owners and pets can be reunited, but one must keep his contact information current every time he changes cell phone numbers, home phone numbers and addresses.
See you tomorrow, Dr. Randolph.