Comments on: The microchip mess is better — but a collar and tag is still your pet’s best bet

By: VJ

VJ — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:05:50 +0000

Thank you for your help Lis.

By: Lis

Lis — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:23:47 +0000

VJ, that’s very sad. I hope she will at least be able to know that her pup is getting a good new home.

If you can get the chip information from whoever is helping to rehome her dog, that would be great. If you can’t, though, your vet should be able most likely to identify the chip for you, and if it’s the brand used at that hospital, give you the number. If it’s an AVID chip and they’re a HomeAgain clinic, they may only be able to tell you it’s an AVID chip—but they most likely also know who in the area uses AVID chips and will have an AVID scanner.

So with a bit of patience, you should be able to get the chip info updated, and not have to put the dog through the removal of the old chip and implanting of the new one.

By: VJ

VJ — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:55:32 +0000

Wow. Thanks for the information Lis. This lady is mentally in no position to respond. She had a brain tumor that unfortunately has not gone well for her. Poor puppy is traumatized as is.

By: Lis

Lis — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:06:53 +0000

VJ, if you have the chip information—the company and the number—you contact the company directly and file the change of ownership. They then contact the owner on record. If she responds and confirms the transfer, they make the change. Or if she doesn’t respond at all within some set period of time, they make the change. There’s a fee, of course, but you expect that with a business, and when I did it for my dog, it wasn’t outrageously high.

If she were to respond and say she wanted her dog back, of course, that could get interesting!

Updating the chip information is a little bit tedious, but less stressful on the dog than removing one chip and implanting another. Probably cheaper, too.

By: Susan Fox

Susan Fox — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:11:33 +0000

Brilliant, Jason! I’m going to do the same thing.

By: Joy

Joy — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:57:14 +0000

With adoptions, I almost (almost!) feel that pre-adoption microchipping is even more important than pre-adoption spay/neuter. I do both with rescues but if I had to choose…I dunno. Maybe my serious love of the microchip stems from so many hurricanes.

Strays seem to find me so, these days I carry a scanner with me in my car at all times.

By: VJ

VJ — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:55:06 +0000

I’m getting a pup whose elderly ill owner can no longer care for him. Was going to have the chip removed and replaced with my information. What I’m reading here, however, do I understand correctly that the chip does not need to be removed but only the information needs to change?
Do I have to go to the vet who implanted the chip or can the pup go to my vet? On a happy note, he’ll be here in his forever home this Thursday.

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:31:09 +0000

Jennifer,

Rechip. I’ll tell you why: Because if your pet was lost you would kick yourself forever.

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:30:13 +0000

Jason, that is a great idea. Are you available for hire to organize my life?

By: Jennifer Ratola

Jennifer Ratola — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:22:21 +0000

Our breeder microchipped our puppy the day we brought him home & scanned him with her scanner to show us the chip number. We had the chip checked on his first visit to the vet and all was ok. Since then he’s gotten a play mate. When we had her chipped we had Harley scanned for reassurance. No chip found. We took him back and they did another thorough check, still no chip. We love our dogs dearly and would be devastated if either of them were ever lost as they go on all vacations with us. They also wear tags on their collars with our cell phone numbers. It bothers me that the chip’s moved and to who knows where. Now the decision - rechip or not?