This is the way forward for pet identification. Within this remarkable little glass tube is the technology to uniquely identify your pet. The little glass vial, the size of a small grain of rice, is injected under the skin between the shoulder blades. This is usually a painless procedure even though it looks quite a frightening needle! Puppies by law now have to be microchipped by the age of 8 weeks so will usually be done by the breeder. Other animals can be done at any age and some people may prefer to have kittens done while they are asleep at neutering times.
A scanner- widely available at veterinary surgeries, animal sanctuaries, police stations, dog wardens etc.- is used to pick up the unique number held by the chip in your pet. Having read the number a phone call to the database, which is manned night and day, rapidly unites number with an owners address and contact details and lo and behold the stray is no longer a stray.
Chipping is the only foolproof way of identifying your pet and is to be thoroughly recommended. The chips can sometimes move but they remain only beneath the skin - they cannot migrate internally and can still be picked up by the routine scanning method which covers the whole body.
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR PET GOES MISSING
Should your pet go missing it is often best to start with the local veterinary practices in your area as they are where most people take lost/stray animals. It is also worth trying your local council, RSPCA, Police as well as the CPL or NCDL. Links to some of them can be found below –
RSPCA - http://www.rspca.org.uk/
NCDL - http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/
Police - http://www.kent.police.uk/Your%20Area/Medway/index.html
