Statistics show that thousands of pets are lost each year. Most of us never expect to lose our pet and when the unexpected happens, most owners are caught by surprise and unprepared and owners are heartbroken at the loss of their pets. Taking a simple preventative action can prevent this problem from happening.

The option of microchipping has been considered the most effective way of tracking down lost pets. The procedure is done by most veterinarians today with a hypodermic needle. This hypodermic needle contains a small microchip that contains your pet's permanent identification number. This identification number is entered into a data bank - national or local depending on the brand - and lists the pet's name, owner's name, address, and phone number.

A veterinarian as well as most animal shelters can do the procedure. Animal shelters provide the service for much less than a vet. It can be done in about thirty seconds and does not hurt pets. A microchip ID is a very, very small chip. In fact, it's just about the size of a grain of rice.

HomeAgain Pet Recovery Service, 24PetWatch and AVID (American Veterinary Identification Devices) Microchip ID are the three companies that produce these microchip IDs. The companies that produce these microchips have their own national database that stores all the pet information.

A scanner sends a safe radio wave signal to the microchip and when the chip receives this signal, it sends data (the microchip number) back to the scanner to be displayed in a viewing window. There are small handheld scanners that have a reading range of about 3 inches. While larger, more powerful scanners that have reading ranges that vary from 6 to 20 inches can be used for various commercial and research applications.

Animal shelters and animal control officers have been educated and informed about microchip identification and how it functions. Shelters use industry-wide, cross-compatible scanners that read all chips operating at a certain frequency and once a microchip is located in an animal, the appropriate steps are then taken.

For pets traveling to all countries with the exception of China, you should use ISO 15 digit microchip that meets ISO standards 11784/11785. This is because the immigration officers use the microchips to compare the pet they are scanning to the presented veterinary documents.

There are still some drawbacks despite the fact that microchips to track your pet are completely safe. Some owners are against microchips because there was an issue reported that these microchips cause Fibro Sarcomas in the animals that have been implanted with these devices.

However, a lot of pet owners are not affected by this issue because of the obvious advantages of microchips. The process of implanting a microchip is quick and no more painful than a vaccination. The chip can't get lost and it is encoded with a unique and unalterable identification code that can only be activated when read by a scanner. A microchip doesn't not need replacing as it is designed to last the lifetime of a pet; once injected, it is anchored in place as a thin layer of connective tissue forms around it. The owner's name and address are available on regional or national databases so your pet can be returned quickly and safely.

Providing your pet with a microchip can help ensure a happy reunion if the unthinkable happens: your beloved pet gets lost. But still the decision of microchipping you pet lies in your hands.

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