Save pets with microchip technology
MOSES LAKE - Inspired by a story of a lost-and-found pet, I took my two cats in this month to get microchips embedded in their skin.
"Dixie, a 15-year-old ginger cat, disappeared in 1999 and her owners thought she had been killed by a car," Reuters reported. "She was found less than half a mile from her home in Birmingham (London) after a concerned resident rang the animal charity to report a thin and disheveled cat who had been in the area for a couple of months."
The cat was missing for nine years. Thanks to a microchip placed in the back of her neck, the owners were reunited with their pet.
For months I was toying with the thought of adding microchips to my cats. The technology involves placing a chip about the size of a grain of rice between the animals' shoulder blades, according to HomeAgain, a company offering to insert microchips into pets.
The chip is inserted with the use of a needle.
When a pet is found, the chip can be scanned, allowing rescuers to locate the owner.
It is what happened in the case of Dixie. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals indicated in the news story they hoped Dixies' story would inspire other pet owners to microchip their pets.
The result, for me, was a phone call to the veterinarian and both cats received microchips for about $45 each. The procedure was fast and simple.
What's more, the cats didn't seem too discomforted by the process.
Dixie isn't the only long-lost cat returned with the help of a microchip. In 2003, CBS News reported a black cat named Ted was reunited with his owner after 10 years.
CBS reported, "When the pair reunited … the cat "rubbed his face on my hand, climbed right up and started purring," (owner Chris) Inglis said. "It's pretty monumental. It's almost surreal."
Cats aren't the only type of pet helped with microchips.
BBC News reported a woman whose dog was stolen from a veterinary office in 2001 was reunited with her dog Rhia in 2007. The owner received a phone call from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
"When they said they had a dog at Battersea called Rhia, registered to my name and address I literally collapsed on the floor," she told BBC.
Seven years or 10 years is a long time for a pet to go missing, and without having microchips these happy reunions would be even more unlikely.
Considering the work associated with finding a lost pet, including putting up posters, calling shelters and knocking on neighbors' doors, the technology seems to remove some of the uncertainty around finding a pet.
It can't keep them out of the road, but it can provide second chances for a pet and their owner.
I hope my cats never go missing. But if they do, I am comforted knowing the technology could bring them home.
Chrystal Doucette is the Columbia Basin Herald health and education reporter. The news staff doubt she would ever lose either of her cats since they always appear to be on a leash when outside their home.