Our cat Gypsy came into our backyard and into our life and gradually became our pet. It took weeks of letting her get used to us –she did not trust humans. One winter night when it was going to be extremely cold, we managed to snatch her up and bring her inside. Then we had her vaccinated and microchipped, knowing that if she was ever lost and found her way to an animal shelter, she could find her way home to us.
So we were dismayed with the recent news that the Texas based company, Save This Life, had suddenly shut down. They were a provider of microchips to animal hospitals and shelters for years, and maintained a sizeable registry for pets and owners. When they shut down, their database was gone. They seem to have made no attempts to transition the information to another provider.
Save This Life participated in the American Animal Hospital Association Recovery Service Registry, a great tool that allows members to search connected databases for microchip numbers, and help lost or stolen pets to find their way home. When the company unexpectedly shut down with no notice, pets who have their microchips implanted can no longer be traced to their owners.
So what should you do if you have a microchipped pet? If your pet has a microchip, it still works and it’s still safe - but if scanned, your information may not show up.
Most veterinarians can scan your pet to determine the chip number and whether it was part of the now-closed registry. If it is not from Save This Life, your pet is okay. Just make sure your current information is up to date on the chip registry. If your pet’s chip is one that has been de-linked, you can use the number and register on another database, such as FreePetChipRegistry.com
Statistics show that one in every three pets will be lost at least once, so making sure your furry friend can find its way home can make a big difference, when your speaking of pets.
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