Importance of getting pets microchipped

Pets are an important part of families, but sometimes they can get out or even be stolen. A small microchip can possibly reunite lost or stolen pets with their rightful owners.

The process takes a few seconds and can make such a difference.

“We insert into the animal. It’s like giving them a vaccination. We put it right in between their shoulder blades and it forms it’s own scar tissue and stays right there,” says Irene Brown, Animal Services Manager.

Each microchip has an assigned scannable barcode with the owner’s name.

“On our scanner, we can plug that into the system and it brings up all the owner information. If we don’t have it in our local system here. We can call the nationwide database and it will bring it up in that so we can locate the owners,” says Laramie Pancheri, Animal Services Officer.

And it’s worked for many pet owners.

“We had a cat that hitchhiked on a semi truck from North Dakota and ended up here. Somebody found it and scanned it, had a microchip and we were able to get it back to its owner hundreds of miles away,” says Pancheri.

You can get your pet microchipped at the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter for just $20.