Recently, a Pet Microchip company (Save This Life) abruptly went out of business and took their Registered Microchip Database offline. We did a search through our record system and contacted the few dozen pets with microchip numbers that likely were made by the company, and reached out to recommend re-registering with a new Microchip Database.
A few clients had some confusion about what a microchip does and how it works, so I thought a blog post may be a good way to give some information!
What is a microchip?
A microchip is a small, electronic passive RFID chip, typically enclosed inside of a bioglass cylinder. The entire device is about the size of a grain of rice. The microchip itself has no internal power or battery, and works when a scanner passes over the device and emits specific frequency radio waves. The waves output by the scanner activate the chip, which then briefly transmits the identification number to the scanner, which displays the number on a screen.
Why is microchipping and registering my pet important?
Microchips are internationally considered the best way to permanently identify a pet.
A study published in 2009 looked at the return rate for microchipped pets in the United States. The study included all animals entering 53 shelters in 23 states between August 2007 to March 2008. They found the rate of return for lost pets was much higher when pets were microchipped.
For dogs with microchips, 52.2% were reunited with their owners, compared to only 21.9% without microchips. This was even more dramatic for cats, where 38.5% of microchipped cats could be returned, compared to only 1.8% without microchips.
The study also found that the most common reason microchipped pets could not be returned was unregistered chips and incorrect phone numbers. A shocking 41.9% of microchips were not registered with owner information at all. For the pets with microchips registered to the owner or shelter/vet who placed the microchip, 35.4% had a disconnected or incorrect phone number listed.
Even responsible pet owners can have pets get lost. Sometimes mistakes happen, like leaving a window or door slightly open, especially by children, elderly people, or non-residents of the home like visitors or in-home workers (cleaners, plumbers, electricians, etc). Pets can also get outside during robberies and fires.
In my experience, most found microchipped pets are known to be lost, but sometimes pets are brought in to us for scanning before the owner even realizes they are missing!
What kinds of microchips exist?
The first microchips were made and used in the United Kingdom in 1989. The ease and safety of microchips quickly made them an appealing method for permanent identification and traceability of pets, and companies in other countries began to produce and distribute microchips.
In the United States, a few different frequency chips quickly gained popularity: 125kHz, 128kHz, and 134.2kHz. This can cause some issues since not all scanners will emit all of the possible frequencies, and there was disagreement between frequencies for different countries.
By 1997, the International Standards Organization (ISO) introduced the ISO 11784-11785 standard, which operates on the 134.2kHz frequency. All ISO-compliant microchips can be detected with any scanner world-wide, and all are 15 digits. Most microchips purchased and placed in the United States begin with 981.
What information is stored on a microchip? How does it help connect a lost pet to their owner?
Microchips only contain the identification number. There is no signal emitted which can be tracked with GPS. Personal information, such as the pet name, owner name, or owner contact information, are also not stored in the chip.
When a chip is scanned, the identification number is displayed, and can then be searched using online Microchip Databases. The largest search option in the United States is the AAHA Microchip Lookup, which is managed by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), which currently searches 41 individually operated databases.
How is a microchip registered?
When chips are sold, they are “soft registered” by the manufacturer in their database to the purchaser (typically a vet hospital or shelter). Once a microchip is placed in an animal, it must be registered with a database.
In most cases, microchips can be registered for free with the manufacturer’s database. You can also register for free with Free Pet Chip Registry (www.freepetchipregistry.com/).
If your pet’s microchip is not registered to you, it’s likely still “soft registered” to the organization who purchased/placed it. Occasionally we will have found animals come in with chips registered to Philly ACCT, and when we contact them, we’ll find the pet was adopted and the microchip database was never updated.
If your pet is microchipped, I recommend confirming the number is correctly registered to you. If you aren’t sure, you can use the AAHA Microchip Lookup to confirm if it’s listed in a database and when it was last updated. If the number is not registered with a database, I recommend registering it with Free Pet Chip Registry.
What if someone gets my pet’s microchip number? Can they access my personal information?
The short answer is no. Information provided when registering pet microchip numbers is considered private.
When we have a found pet come in, we scan and obtain a microchip number, then use the AAHA Microchip Lookup to determine which database it’s registered in. We then call the database and inform them the pet has been found.
In most cases, the database company will reach out to the owner, and will typically only provide us with the pet name, owner name, and owner phone number, which we are not allowed to disclose to anyone. This personal information is kept private, even from the finder of the animal.
How is a microchip placed?
Microchip placement is typically very comfortable and quick. Chips are manufactured pre-loaded into large hypodermic needles. The chip is injected under the skin. No surgery or anesthesia is required, however it’s common to include microchipping during spay/neuter procedures in the United States.
Are microchips safe?
Other than the quick pinch from the needle and (in rare cases) a small bruise at the placement site, microchips are extremely safe.
Of the tens of millions of microchips placed in dogs and cats, only a small number of complications have been reported. The most common two are migration and functional failure.
Migration occurs when the microchip slowly over months to years moves from the site of implantation to a different site, such as down a limb or around toward the sternum. This was identified as an issue in the early 2000s, and most chips now have modifications to the bioglass to help prevent migration.
Functional failure occurs when the microchip stops transmitting the identification number. Modern chips undergo rigorous testing and generally have a guaranteed functionality of about 30 years, well beyond the lifespan of dogs and cats.
Infection and inflammation have been reported as rare side effects. Any injection can have a very rare chance of causing inflammation or infection.
Cancer development has been a concern. In the 30 years that microchips have been used, a handful of cases have had tumor growth in close proximity to the microchip. There has never been a conclusive study in dogs, cats, or mice linking microchips to cancer, despite tens of millions of microchips placed. For example, HomeAgain reported in 2007 that in the 4,900,000 microchips placed, only 2 dogs and 1 cat had tumor development in close proximity to a microchip. In each of the 3 cases, the microchip could not be confirmed as the inciting factor.
What do I need to know about microchips for me and my pet?
Microchips are safe and reliable
Microchipping your pet is the best way to ensure they are safely returned to you if they get lost
Registering your contact information is critical to connect the microchip to you
Check the AAHA Microchip Lookup to see if your pet’s chip is registered
If needed, you can register your pet’s microchip for free on Free Pet Chip Registry
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