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Article By: JohnBear
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To Microchip or not - The Decision is Yours
More than 10 million pets are lost each year and losing a pet is one of the hardest events an individual has to face. An unsuccessful search can indeed be very heartbreaking, but as an owner, have you heard of a new method that can bring your lost family pet back home?
The option of microchipping has been considered the most effective way of tracking down lost pets. The procedure is done by most veterinarians today with a hypodermic needle. This hypodermic needle contains a small microchip that contains your pet's permanent identification number. This identification number is entered into a data bank - national or local depending on the brand - and lists the pet's name, owner's name, address, and phone number.
You can choose to have a microchip inserted in your pet by Veterinarians or an animal shelter personnel. It is much cheaper to have this procedure done in animal shelters than vet clinics. The chip is slightly larger than a grain of uncooked rice and the process is quick and painless.
There are three companies that dominate the US market for pet microchips- AVID, HomeAgain and 24PetWatch The microchip manufacturer keep the chip numbers that you have purchased and all the necessary information in their databases to be able to traced you in the event that your pet gets lost.
A scanner sends a safe radio wave signal to the microchip and when the chip receives this signal, it sends data (the microchip number) back to the scanner to be displayed in a viewing window. There are small handheld scanners that have a reading range of about 3 inches. While larger, more powerful scanners that have reading ranges that vary from 6 to 20 inches can be used for various commercial and research applications.
If a pet is found by local authorities or taken to a shelter, it is scanned during intake to see if a chip exists. If a microchip is detected, authorities call the recovery service and provide them the ID number, the pet's description, and the location of the animal. The recovery service will be the one to notify the owner that the pet has been found, and where to go to recover the animal.
If you are living or traveling throughout Europe and other countries except China (it requires a 9-digit chip), a 15-digit microchip made according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards 11784 and 11785 is required when importing an animal, as a proof that the animal and the vaccination record belong together.
Though long-term research has been conducted and has shown that using microchips to track your pet is completely safe, there are still some owners who are against it. One issue reported that these microchips are the cause of Fibro Sarcomas in the animals that have been implanted.
However, a lot of pet owners are not bothered by this issue because of the advantages that microchipping offers. Injecting a microchip is just like any other injection or vaccination. Anesthesia is not even required or recommended. The AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association, 2007) goes on to state that "The chip is made out of an inert, biocompatible substance, which means it won't cause an allergic reaction in your furry friend, and it won't degenerate over time". When properly implanted, a small layer of connective tissue forms around the microchip thus actually preventing movement or migration of the chip.
Providing your pet with a microchip can help ensure a happy reunion if the unthinkable happens: your beloved pet gets lost. But still the decision of microchipping you pet lies in your hands.
Article Source: ArticleZones.com
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