Getting Your Dog a Microchip, a Necessity For the Domestic Canine
We have the quite the pet family. So far, you’ve met Arie, my White German Shepherd, and Shady, my boyfriend’s lab mix. We also have two cats and a tank filled with fish, but you’ll have to meet them later. The point of this post isn’t how many animals we have, but how devastating it would be if we ever lost one of them.
When I was little, I grew up next door to my grand parent’s land, and in a rural area with lots of wildlife, it’s not a rare occurrence for a pet to wander off and not return. I was always heartbroken when my cat disappeared, and positively devastated when one met a nasty end at the hand of a fox. Besides the wildlife, the other worry came from other human beings. My family would give the dog a bath, and then let him/her run outside without their collar on while they dried. I was always terrified that someone would find them in that brief time, think they were homeless, and take them in or take them to a shelter.
With the amazing progress of modern technology, we now have the amazing invention that helps relieve that worry: The microchip. Microchips are now readily affordable and available, so can get one easily for your pet at a shelter or your vet. While they may not seem so important if you have a collar and tag for your dag, remember: Tags and collars can break off, get snagged, or wear so that your information isn’t clear. Microchips go beyond that to ensure that your pet is always marked with the address for their home, and have helped some animals find it home in extreme cases, like when one dog made the amazing 750 MILE trip home after being separated from his owner, all because someone checked his microchip.
Fadidle was reunited with her pet parent, Sharalyn, thanks to her microchip. Photo from Damien Gayle article on Mail Online.
Still, there are some things you need to have in place in addition to getting your pet a microchip to ensure they’ll make it home:
- Keep an ID tag and vaccine tags on your dog at all times, even they have a microchip. These are outward notifications that can be seen with the naked eye that your dog has a home, and assures people that they are up to date on their shots.
- Make sure that the information stored in your microchip is up to date. After all, someone returning your dog to the address you had four years ago isn’t exactly getting him/her home.
- Keep your pet safe and at home by keeping an eye on them and taking precautions ahead of time to make sure that they don’t get lost in the first place. Being a watchful pet parent will help your pet feel safe and be safe.
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life with arie 
Delilah is chipped because she came from a rescue. Sampson is not and I have debated this with myself forever. I am afraid of chipping him because I am afraid the foreign object under his skin can cause cancer. Hubby wants him chipped but I’m so afraid of him getting sick. Am I being silly? Do you know of any statistics regarding chipping and cancer?
Hey Jodi, I completely understand your debate. Arie came with a chip as well, as part of her adoption package, but i did opt to get the cats microchipped (I found them as strays as kittens). There is some research that leans towards the fact that microchips could cause cancer in dogs. The evidence I found while researching for this post was from 2005, and discussed how cancer had shown up in some lab rats. The problem here is, that rats will contract cancer at a higher risk rate than humans, and dogs fall somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. Once again though, that article was several years old.
Concerns are always valid when it comes to your family. I would talk to your vet about it, and ask them for any literature they have on the subject. Do your own independent research, and find out also how treatable a cancer at an implantation spot would be if contracted. There are plenty of questions to ask yourself and experts while making the decision, and no one should look down on you for being cautious. Hope you find what you’re looking for!