Posted on 08/12/2022 2:14:17 PM PDT by fwdude
I have a question on identity microchips which is pertinent to me and probably a lot of others.
When an animal is microchipped and registered in a national database, vets and others with a connected scanner can identify the registered owner of the scanned pet.
Let's say you lose your pet and then someone else finds it, unaware that it is a lost pet belonging to someone else. It has no collar or other identifying markings, but you had it microchipped and it is currently registered. If the new "owner" likes the pet and claims it for himself, and subsequently takes the pet to the vet for a checkup or medical procedures, is the vet obligated to scan the pet for a chip with or without the new claimant's permission? What if the new "owner" doesn't disclose the history of the pet (my vet never has asked about any I have brought in.)? The presumption seems to be that the claimed owner IS the owner, so there would be no impetus to scan the pet for a chip.
I have lost a couple of cats and people around me have lost cats, and have advertised on the various lost pet sites, like PawBoost. I just want to know if vets or other pet service providers routinely scan pets for microchips.
Let's now say that a vet does scan the pet, perhaps because a new chip was requested by the new "owner," and discovers the old chip, the one I had placed in the pet. Is the vet obligated to notify the recording organization that the pet has been found, or just to tell the new claimant about the finding?
I can see lot's of room for this to get very messy.
I think microchips are a good idea for pet animals. They not only help you find the pet if it’s lost, they ALSO put out an APB if you report your pet lost. You have to keep whatever company the chip is registered to updated as to your address and contact info.
Therefore, if you report your pet lost this database will upload that to a NATIONAL notification system. If the pet is ever found - dead or alive - you will be notified, assuming it is picked up by Animal Control or taken to a vet or a shelter.
That doesn’t mean that if someone steals your pet and takes it to a veterinarian that the vet will scan for a microchip; HOWEVER, they will ask where you got the pet. If the thief says “from a shelter” or “from my neighbor” or whatever, the vet may take it upon him/herself to do a scan. (When me and Mr K - not the one on this forum - took in a stray and took him to the vet, we did report that he was a stray and the vet told us the cat had no microchip, so he was being conscientious. Your results may vary.)
“Let’s now say that a vet does scan the pet, perhaps because a new chip was requested by the new “owner,” and discovers the old chip, the one I had placed in the pet. Is the vet obligated to notify the recording organization that the pet has been found, or just to tell the new claimant about the finding?”
The vet may not be obligated to inform, but just in the act of looking it up, he has put an alert into the system. The staff at “petfinders” or whatever are rewarded handsomely for getting a pet back with his rightful owners, so even if the vet doesn’t care, the tracking service will.
If there are plenty of ground squirrels, mice, and birds, it’s doubtful a coyote or owl will hang around just looking for cats - coyotes are opportunistic and most foxes and owls will go after smaller prey.
If someone is taking cats, you and your neighbors should sort of sneakily look around for pit bull breeders. They will take pet animals, cats and dogs, and they don’t bother scanning. You can report pit bull breeders to law enforcement, and you should. They ALWAYS kidnap pet animals to use for training. They are mean to the dogs, too.
I hope this helps.
(Note: I do not think microchips are a good idea for people except maybe convicted child molesters and so on. But people can take their chips out, so it’s not going to help much in that case, either.)
Um, the complete opposite is the case. If an animal is going to get lost, it's a dog.
“I doubt there’s a cat thief working your neighborhood.”
Let me introduce you to human scum. They drive around neighborhoods and kidnap dogs and cats, and then sell them to animal research centers.
Dognapping
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dognapping
Legally if you find an animal you are supposed to report it to the local animal shelter and have scanned for a chip and/or have it posted as found on the many lost & found sites existing, now.
If it has a chip, it is to be returned to its rightful owners.
Many animals have been found years and many miles away from where they were “lost” [likely stolen] and returned to their owners.
As animals are considered “property”, same as your car, what if you left the keys in your Maserati and somebody “found it” and decided to just keep it?
Same legal principle.
When you find an animal you should make every attempt to reunite said animal with their owner.
Every day my lost & found groups post pleas from owners looking for their beloved pets, begging for it to be returned.
Many of them are breeds “most likely to be stolen” and it breaks my heart because the dog has probably been moved across state lines and sold for drug money, never to be seen again, barring a microchip miracle.
Others may have been found by somebody who now thinks how lucky they were to find that “free dog” and never intends to try to find its people.
That is not something I could ever personally do.
The guilt would kill me.
It should be a simple choice.
Do the right thing.
I looked it up but the internet would not give me an answer, “Are pet ID chips found in owl pellets?”
You'd be surprised at how often that happens. If the pet is really good natured, they can easily steal the heart of anyone who finds them. I personally know of several situation where this has happened. Don't discount the possibility.
They're not "thieves" if they adopt the pet out of ignorance, not knowing if it has an owner. I always get found pets scanned, but a lot of tech-stupid people aren't aware of these systems.
Dogs don’t really have that great of eyesight, with the exception of Sight Hounds and they navigate the world primarily by smell.
I’ve seen lots of “reunited pets” videos where the dog didn’t recognize the owner until it was close enough to catch the owner’s scent.
The world is blue/green/yellow and blurry to dogs but their noses are miracles.
Sounds like your found pup was a one lucky dog.
:)
Any Chinese restaurants in your area?
Sum Ting Wong with that picture
I’m fully aware of the hazards and the probably fate of these pets, I don’t need a reminder. but if saying so makes your day, go right ahead.
I just had a technical question I was hoping to get answered.
This became a big thing in my area back in the 90s.
Now it’s mostly junkies grabbing small desirable breeds from yards and selling them in parking lot for dope money.
In the last few years, larger dogs are also being stolen and I’m sure there’s no connection to the influx of border jumpers who get their ya yas from dog fighting.
/livid
I would be very interested in his/her response. Please drop me a note when you find out.
I've wondered if there is an industry requirement in the veterinarian field that mandates the scan of a new pet.
Many years ago I lived in an apartment above an Asian restaurant.
I used to sit on the roof overlooking the back parking lot and watch the rats running to and fro.
Maybe they were “free range”.
Very helpful. Thank you.
No, more and more vets are logging in with this equipment as scan chips become more widespread. I live in a large city and every vet I know of is online with a scanner. They encourage people to bring in found pets for a scan. I’ve done this at least a couple of times (kept one of the kitties for myself.)
I would think that shelters would be scouring every clue for identity of a possible owner, being in the business of unwanted pets. What you said didn't make any sense.
Ours don’t go out, except in a carrier to the vet. It’s just to dangerous out there.
Very good post. Thanks.
I didn’t know if when a chipped pet is found, it immediately sends a signal to the database maintenance company, but that would make sense. I guess the scanner has to be “online” do that, but the detection of a chip, reported or not, should clue the vet in to the fact that the animal has an identifying device.
Owls are great predators, but they limit themselves to smaller mammal or young larger species. I watched a great horned owl swoop down on my adult female cat, but decided at the very last second that it was too big a prey and just brushed her back. Owls like rodents, rabbits and squirrels, as well as other birds. Coyotes are the prime predator that pet owners have to worry about.
one of my best friends is a vet
at her clinic, they only scan if requested to do so
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