MC Humane Society to offer fall Microchip Clinics

Practical service helps reunite owners with lost pets

Rockville, MD (August 30, 2013) – If your beloved dog or cat has ever gone missing, you know all too well the heartache of trying to find your furry friend quickly.  One of the best tools to help your search is pet ID, in particular, microchipping.

The Montgomery County Humane Society wants all lost animals to return home and is offering public microchip clinics on Sunday, September 22, and Sunday, October 13, from 1-3 p.m.  Clinics will be held at the Aspin Hill Memorial Park, at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Aspen Hill Road, Silver Spring (enter from Aspen Hill Road).  Cost per pet is $35.  Selected pets will also be available for adoption.

Microchipping is a key tool to help reunite lost pets with their owners.  Pet caregivers can save now on this important service – it's peace of mind for both you and your pet.  The combination of ID tags and microchipping means you know they're protected if they ever become lost.

Pilar, a petite domestic shorthair cat who belonged to a family that recently moved to Montgomery County from California, recently escaped from home and was brought to the shelter as a stray.  MCHS staff located the 16-year-old feline’s microchip and tracked down the owners with a little sleuthing between the manufacturer of the microchip and searching on the Internet.  Within 24 hours, Pilar was reunited with her family and back home in Olney.

It’s always an ideal time of year to take steps to ensure your pets have proper identification. It’s a requirement for dogs and cats adopted from MCHS.  In FY 2013, MCHS reunited over 1,000 dogs and cats with their owners, increasingly as a result of the animals being microchipped.  Inserted under the skin, a microchip is the size of a grain of rice and identifies your animal when it is "scanned" by a scanning device.  The scanner is "passed" over the animal and "reads" the microchip, which shows an identifying number and some letters.  This number can be searched in a database of registered animals.  When found, the owner’s information can be accessed by calling a toll-free number.  Then you can be called and arrangements made for your lost pet to return home.

Note that microchipping is effective only if you as the owner have also registered your contact information with the manufacturer of your pet’s chip or a universal registry.  Don’t forget to do this at the same time your pet is chipped!

Microchips should be used in addition to a collar and ID tags.  ID tags and collar are visible from a distance and let people know instantly that the animal has an owner, but they can get lost or damaged.  A microchip goes a big step further, saving time, stress and worry for both the owner and the lost pet.  In the event of a disaster, a microchip can make a real difference in reuniting owners and their pets.  Millions of dogs and cats have been safely chipped over a 15-year period and numerous reunions have resulted, even after months or years.  Contact your vet or your local shelter to schedule an appointment, and see County Adoption Fees for current charges.

For more information on microchipping and other important identification tools, see

• http://www.mchumane.org/preventionisthebeststrategy.shtml

• http://www.foundanimals.org/blog/5-things-you-didnt-know-microchips/
• https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Backgrounders/Pages/Microchipping-of-Animals-Backgrounder.aspx

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About the Montgomery County Humane Society:

The Montgomery County Humane Society in Rockville, MD, is a nonprofit animal welfare organization that has provided animal sheltering services in Montgomery County since 1958. Operating the county’s open admission shelter that never turns an animal away, MCHS has received funds to operate the Montgomery County Animal Shelter under a grant from the Montgomery County government and from private donations. The only full-service animal shelter in the county, MCHS handled more than 7,700 animals in FY2013. Programs and services include adoption, foster care, lost and found, transfer, education, and volunteering. Visit our website to learn more, or call 240-773-5960, option 4. Hours to visit with the animals are weekdays, noon-7pm, and weekends, noon-5pm; closed Wednesdays.