Recent natural disasters like the Oklahoma tornadoes, fires like the Black Forest fire in Colorado, and floods and flash floods throughout the Midwest and West have prompted many to prepare a disaster plan that can work well if you have time to take your pets with you. Unfortunately a much loved four legged member of the family can be separated from his humans. Many are found by folks anxious to offer housing, food, and comfort for the lost pet, but the goal is to return him to his family. Thousands of pets – cats, dogs, donkeys, snakes, llamas, horses, and more- were placed in shelters following the Black Forest fire in Colorado. Many were reunited with their owners.
Similarly, scores of pets were left homeless following the May Oklahoma tornadoes. Following a natural disaster, concerned animal lovers use the internet to help reunite people and pets. Twitter and Facebook sites helped following the Black Forest fire while pet rescue groups and veterinarians in Oklahoma City set up www.OKCLostPets.com, a website designed to help get pets back to their owners. In both cases, many pets were reunited with their families, but many remain on the list of the lost. Reunion is much more likely if the owner has planned ahead so his pet has carries identification.
The majority of pets that had a happy reunion with their humans had tags, tattoos, or microchips, that allowed rescuers to contact the owners. Tags on the collar are helpful but are not permanent. A collar can easily be lost in a disaster. Tattoos are time consuming. The cost of the tattoo varies and must be registered with the National Dog Registry for $45. In comparison, insertion of a microchip is relatively quick and usually costs about $45. My dogs have tags that they sometimes wear. All are microchipped for permanent identification.
A microchip is about the size of a grain of rice.
Dogs and cats can have a microchip, which is about the size of a grain of rice (Fig. 1), injected under the skin between the shoulder blades, but dogs and cats are not the only pets that are microchipped. Horses are microchipped on the left side of the neck, halfway between the poll and withers and approximately one inch below the midline of the mane. Parrots, cockatiels and other birds have the microchip implanted in their breast muscles. Pets of other species including llamas, alpacas, goats, sheep, miniature pigs, rabbits, ferrets, snakes, lizards, turtles, toads, frogs, and mice can also be microchipped. Interestingly, penguins, alligators, chimpanzees, rare fish, prairie dogs, wild bison, black-footed ferrets, grizzly bears, elk, white-tailed deer, giant land tortoises and armadillos — even whales and elephants have been microchipped primarily for research purposes.
Each chip has a unique identification number that can be scanned and matched to the owner. But don't stop by just getting your pet a microchip. It is important to register the ID and your contact information, pet name and description, and shelter and/or veterinarian contact information. This information is critical to a rescue group trying to locate an owner. Investing a little time and $45 to have a veterinarian microchip is a small price to pay for a happy reunion if your pet is ever lost.
C.Sue Furman, Ph.D.
www.HolisticTouchTherapy.com
C.SueFurman@gmail.com