Microchip/Rabies Tag ID
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We offer two very effective methods to identify your pet. The rabies tags that we attach to the patients collar after a vaccination are excellent ID tags. We register the unique tag number in the patients medical record. These tags are color- and shape-coordinated nationally so that anyone in law enforcement or animal control can see from a distance if and when a pet has been vaccinated. (Grace in the picture at right has a red heart-shaped tag; thus she was vaccinated in 2008.) The tag also has our contact information and 24-hour phone number so that, should your pet get lost and found, we can quickly access our laptop computer medical records, day or night, and look up the owner and pet corresponding to the tag number. Microchip implantation is another more permanent means of identifying your pet. The chips are approximately the size and shape of a grain of rice. We implant them by giving an injection under the skin between the shoulder blades on the upper back. You then must register the chip's unique identification number with a national database with both your and our contact information. REMEMBER TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION EVERY TIME YOU MOVE! Virtually every shelter in the nation now has universal scanners, and routinely checks all strays brought into them. Thousands of lost dogs and cats are returned home every year because they are identified with a microchip or rabies tag. |
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There are three major microchip suppliers in the US. We use ResQ by Bayer because, as the chart below shows, it is the only one that is standardized world-wide, meaning that their scanners will detect and read all other companies chips. In addition, they are the only company that does not charge a yearly fee to register with the database. The picture below at right is an enlargement of the microchip compared to a grain of rice.
