What If The Microchip Is Not Registered And U Dont Know Who To Register It With

No matter how careful we are with our pets, there'due south no question that some are built-in escape artists. And even the nigh docile pets aren't immune to the occasional wander.

According to statistics, one in three pets will go missing at some betoken in their lifetime. If you lot've always felt that trauma first-hand or the simple thought of it fills y'all with dread, 1 affair is for sure: You know there's cypher you wouldn't practice to become a lost canis familiaris or cat nestled safely back in your arms...fast.

Here's the good news: If your pet is microchipped, the key to a speedy and successful reunion is already in place. But in gild to unlock its ability, there'due south one more crucial step you need to have: register your pet's microchip. It's the single near important thing you tin can practise to ensure your pet'due south prophylactic return. Luckily, information technology's also the easiest!

And research proves that this one elementary step is absolutely worth the few minutes it takes to complete. Co-ordinate to a 2009 report of seven,700 lost pets, 52% of microchipped dogs and 39% of microchipped cats were successfully reunited with their families.

Unfortunately, of the chipped pets who did not make information technology dwelling house safely, the study revealed unregistered microchips or those with outdated information were the primary reasons.

Unproblematic Microchip Registration

According to experts, an estimated 40% of microchipped pets are walking around with unregistered chips. That's like splurging on shiny new tags for your dog or true cat, but leaving them bare...If someone finds your lost pet, how volition they know how to contact you?

While microchip registry sounds similar a no-brainer, fifty-fifty the most responsible pet parents sometimes get derailed by pretty common scenarios. Such as:

Many shelters automatically microchip animals in their care. But brand new pet parents might not realize they demand to register the flake.
Some people confuse chip registration with needing to obtain a local license for their pet.
Fifty-fifty experienced pet parents sometimes forget to annals a flake in the excitement of welcoming a new family member.
And what happens if y'all misplace your paperwork and tin can't effigy out how to update your registry or whether your pet was always chipped to begin with?

No need to worry...or to allow these unanswered questions keep you from reuniting with a lost pet one second longer than you take to. In two easy steps, here's how to ensure your pet's microchip is properly registered, one time and for all.

Step one: Verify Your Pet's Microchip

If you lot're one of those organizationally-gifted people who tin can summon their pet's microchip number at a moment's notice, huzzah! You can go on directly to Stride 2.

The remainder of us may need a fleck of assistance. Luckily, you have plenty of options:

Call your vet. Even if your files aren't the tidiest, if you lot've ever shared your pet'south microchip registry number with your vet, the role should take it on tape. This is the option of first resort for many pet parents. It'southward convenient, fast, and free!

Contact your breeder, shelter or rescue. No matter where yous got your pet, it's possible they came to you already microchipped. So don't hesitate to contact a breeder or shelter for your pet'southward microchip number...fifty-fifty if you're afraid it will make yous expect like a bad pet parent. It's typically gratuitous, and it's much more common than you remember.

Get your pet scanned. If you all the same can't confirm your pet'due south microchip number, it's time to bring them to a pro. Most veterinarians, beast shelters, and even fauna control offices tin can scan your pet to run into if they have a microchip — often gratuitous of charge. Exist sure to call ahead to confirm cost and brand sure they employ a universal scanner, which reads all frequencies and so it'southward more than probable to detect any chip, regardless of manufacturer.

Step 2: Annals Your Pet's Microchip

Once you lot've confirmed your microchip number, registering it is free and takes no more than a few minutes. You tin practice information technology yourself on the 24PetWatch Pet Registry Portal or by calling 1-866-597-2424 to work straight with a Pet Registry Specialist.

That's it! Once you're washed, your pet's unique microchip ID volition forever exist linked to the information yous entered in the registry. Congrats on taking the almost important footstep you can, to help ensure your pet makes it abode to y'all safely.

But what does that actually hateful? Can you track your pet wherever they go like you tin with some food commitment services? At present that you've registered your pet's microchip, it'south important to understand exactly what they can — and can't — do.

How Do Microchip Registries Work?

Your pet'southward microchip is a tiny piece of applied science — no larger than a grain of rice — that stores a unique ID number. Think of it like a barcode, Microchip Scanner except that information technology resides safely and securely inside your pet's body just under the surface of their pare, so information technology tin can never get lost.

There are many different microchip manufacturers, but it doesn't thing who made the scrap inside your pet. Some microchips operate on dissimilar frequencies, but a universal scanner can read them all. Even and then, the but thing a scan will reveal is the microchip'south unique ID number.

That'south why registering the chip is then important. When a lost pet is found and scanned, a shelter can quickly search that ID number in a database to find out where that pet is registered, so alarm the registry that the pet has been found. If the microchip is registered properly, that registry then alerts the pet parent on file to arrange the happy reunion!

What microchips don't do is track your pet's location 24/seven and then you can notice them the minute they go missing. They also don't store any individual data. And they're best used in addition to — non instead of — standard pet ID tags.

How To Become The Most Out Of Your Microchip Registry

Hopefully, by now, there'due south no doubtfulness in your mind but how important information technology is to properly annals your pet's microchip. Merely when a pet is missing, yous want to make sure you accept the best possible gamble of reuniting with them.

According to Dana Rayman, Manager of the 24PetWatch Telephone call Centre, hither's how to get fifty-fifty more out of your microchip registry and improve your odds of a successful reunion.

Gratuitous Microchip Registry

"When you annals your microchip with 24PetWatch, you get free access to the online portal and lost pet recovery services. That means when your pet goes missing, you can accept immediate action and get our Lost Pet Recovery Team on the instance, instead of just worrying or hoping for the all-time," said Rayman.

Here's how that works:

The minute yous realize your pet is missing, you tin report your lost pet at any time of the 24-hour interval or night.
The Lost Pet Recovery Squad will then search for your pet'south microchip ID in their nationwide database of establish pets.

If they get a hit, they'll notify you using the contact data you included in your registry. (Fifty-fifty more than reason to make sure that info is e'er updated!)

Pet Protection Services Membership

However, finding a lost pet is seldom uncomplicated, and virtually pet parents want to practise everything in their power to reunite with their lost pets as quickly as possible. That's why 24PetWatch offers enhanced Pet Protection Services as part of an Almanac Membership ($29.95/year) or Lifetime Membership ($94.95).

"A Pet Protection Membership is the equivalent of 911 for pet parents," says Rayman. "Instead of self-service reporting and updates if there's a hit in the database, you lot get instant, alive access to a Lost Pet Recovery Specialist who can not only expedite your search, but also provide boosted support and ideas to help you lot go your pet back faster."

Here'south how that works:

Experienced Recovery Experts are on telephone call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, set to speak with you lot directly the minute you report your pet missing.
In addition to searching their database in real time, Recovery Experts also accomplish out to local facilities and shelters then they can exist on the lookout for your pet.
They provide tried-and-true suggestions, like placing your pet'southward bed outside your door to assist them smell their way home, and even aid you create a custom Lost Pet poster.
Best of all, with DirectConnect, Recovery Experts accept the ability to instantly connect you lot directly with the facility or finder who has your pet the second they are found to arrange a safety, happy reunion.

"The best office of working direct with our members is that there'southward no delay," said Rayman. "If nosotros get a call at 4:00 AM saying someone found your pet, you can bet we're waking you upwardly to give yous the adept news."

"Membership also gives you unlimited updates to your registry data, so it'due south easy to keep it up to date. And y'all can even add trusted friends and family as contacts. That's key if we can't attain you or if your number has changed; We'll call your secondary contacts until we find someone who tin get your pet right away."

Lifetime Pet Protection Membership offers a range of additional benefits, including a $25 PetCo coupon, exclusive discounts, and year-long access to a 24/7 Vet Hotline and 24PetMedAlert^®.

Simply the biggest benefit of registering with 24PetWatch is the extensive network of shelters and facilities that work with the company as a long-standing leader in the field of lost pet recovery. Thanks to that partnership, over xc% of pets adopted from shelters are already chipped and registered to their pet parents through 24PetWatch, said Rayman.

"On average, we're reuniting between 3,000-iv,000 pets with their parents each month...most of them through DirectConnect. And there's nothing like hearing the relief in someone's vocalization when they know we're about to connect them to someone who has their pet, safe and sound."

Click for more information on registering your microchip or Pet Protection Service Membership, or call a 24PetWatch representative at 1-866-597-2424.

Karen Vitale is a long-fourth dimension author, creator and animal lover whose piece of work has been featured everywhere from Disney Studios to The Smithsonian Institutions.