Imagine. You come home from work to find your beloved pet missing. You call your local council, vet and welfare shelters giving a general description or photo, a name and your contact details. Days go by with no response. Meanwhile your beloved pet is sitting in a rescue shelter/pound wondering why you have not come to take him home or worse still – has been euthanased.
It’s a sad fact that thousands upon thousands of healthy cats and dogs are euthanased every year in Australia. Unwanted, stray, stolen or simply lost cats and dogs who have no way of telling the council pound, rescue or welfare centres their contact details so they can go home. You love your pet and if there was a safe way of ensuring its safety and your peace of mind wouldn’t you consider it?
Studies conducted in the U.S. (Weiss 2012) found that around 15% of pet owners lose their pet at least once a 5 year period and that up to 41% of cats lost are “indoor” cats (Lord 2007). It’s a sad fact that in some states of Australia, pounds or shelters are only required to house an animal for a minimum of 72 hours.
So why take the risk when a uniquely numbered microchip could well eliminate this problem? The size of a grain of rice, the microchip is able to be scanned and identified so your beloved pet can quickly be returned home to you, where it belongs.
RSPCA advocate it as being a quick, simple and relatively painless process for both your pet and your pocket.
For more information on how microchipping can keep your pets safe and secure, talk to your local vet or check out the link below.
References
RSCPA – http://kb.rspca.org.au//Why-it-is-important-to-ensure-my-pet-is-microchipped_500.html
Weiss E, Slater M, Lord L. Frequency of Lost Dogs and Cats in the United States and the Methods Used to Locate Them. Animals 2012;2:301-315.
Marston L, Bennett P, Rohlf V, Mornement K. Review of strategies for effectively managing unwanted dogs and cats in Queensland: A report to the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland. Monash University, Victoria, 2008.
Lord LK, Wittum TE, Ferketich AK, Funk JA, Rajala-Schultz PJ. Search methods that people use to find the owners of lost pets. J Am Vet Med Assoc2007;230:1835-1840
Problems Associated with the Microchip Data of Stray Dogs and Cats Entering RSPCA Queensland Shelters
Lancaster E, Rand JS et al Animals 2015, 5(2), 332-348
http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/5/2/332