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Pet microchipping and avoiding pet microchipping scams

By Chellie Cervone - Posted: Nov 22, 2013 at 3:43 pm

Implanting a Microchip in a Bison (Photo credit: USFWS Mountain Prairie)

Pet microchipping and avoiding pet microchipping scams

Having a microchip implanted in your pet is supposed to help ensure that pet owners and their pets will be reunited should their pet become lost.

A pet microchip, which is the size of small rice-like grain, is painlessly injected into the pets skin.

Although pet information is not stored directly on the microchip the name of the registry where the pet has been registered is.

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After the microchip is registered with the registry that the pet owners chooses, the microchip can be scanned, and searched in an online registry and someone will be able to contact the pet owner so that the pet parent and their pet can be reunited if their pet is lost.

It’s a great idea.

But there are flaws.

Serious flaws.

Since the pet microchipping industry has evolved into such a lucrative business with many companies now offering microchip registries and memberships, it is important to understand that just having your pet microchipped and registered may not be enough.

Understanding the differences that are offered in regards to pet mircochipping and avoiding pet microchipping scams can provide responsible pet owners with the best possible chance of finding their lost pet.

Avoiding pet microchipping scams

Pet owners can chose which pet microchipping registry they use.

Some of the registries are free and others charge a nominal registration fee.

Many vets and shelters use a company called HomeAgain to implant pet microchips as soon as a pet is brought into a shelter since they have a long-standing relationship of providing free supplies.

When a person adopts a pet, or even opts to have one implanted at a veterinarians office, there is very strong chance that the implanted chip will be a HomeAgain microchip.

If the pet owner opts to register their pet in a different registry and not pay an annual membership fee to HomeAgain they may never find their lost pet.

In a worst case scenario the actions of HomeAgain can actually cause your beloved pet, especially if old or ill, to be put to sleep by a shelter because the pet owner cannot be located.

That reason for this is that HomeAgain updates pet microchip registrations for pets that have a HomeAgain microchip implanted but whose owners choose to use a different registry.

Technically the microchip is not supposed to be registered to HomeAgain and but, in actuality, since it is a HomeAgain brand pet microchip it is indeed registered.

It is registered to HomeAgain.

What that means is that if your pet is lost or stolen, and someone looks up the microchip in the AAHA database, it is highly likely that HomeAgain will be contacted because they manipulate the registration information for pets that are not registered to them, yet have a HomeAgain brand pet microcchip implanted, to come up first in the database.

Even though you did not register the pet microchip with them!

Sadly, your pet could be killed because of this practice.

When the registry contacts HomeAgain, they will let the caller know that the pet in question does not possess any microchip registration information because the pet owner did not register their pet.

Unfortunately, at this point in time, there is little that can be done to avoid pet microchipping scams of this nature if the microchip has already been implanted in your pet.

If the microchip has not yet been been implanted in your pet there are many more options open to responsible pet owners that wish to protect their pet.

More information on this practice can be found on the HomeAgain Pet Microchip scam website.

Understanding pet microchipping and avoiding pet microchipping scams can increase the chances of pet owners being reunited with the beloved pets and potentially save their life.