Perhaps youve just read the article by Saving Pets savingpets.au/2013/09/thousands-of-pet-microchips-faulty/ and transferred from DRAV. Make sure you read the DRAV text too. Here it is reposted. There is a misconception that if your pet is chipped he is safe. Do NOT take it for granted. We believe on every vet visit your animals chip should be scanned to make sure it is in position and reading easily. We list some instances we have noted ourselves with microchipping. And this only the tip of the iceberg. . A dog is chipped and a week later at another vet the chip cannot be read. The dog is chipped again but if this dog had not been rescanned this would not have been noticed. And it has happened more than once. Is the chip faulty? Is the scanner faulty? . If your dog is found as a stray, are two people going to scan that dog thoroughly, or is it going to be a cursory scan as many of us have witnessed. . A vet microchips a dog without checking that the dog is already chipped. . Dogs are handed to rescue groups from pounds without the chips being initially picked up. . A local laws officer says he doesnt take much notice of what name is on the chip because no one ever changes them anyway. . Too many dogs are microchipped in different names on different registers. Which register will be referred to? Well it depends where the dog is scanned. And do not believe that the registers are coordinated and talk to each other. They do not. We believe with mandatory microchipping, more and more chipped animals going through the pound and shelter system, and changing hands, the whole system is heading for massive disarray. If it is not at that stage already. Do not take your animals chip for granted. Have the animal scanned again before Christmas. And finally make sure your details are updated. How many dogs are not returned to their people, or are killed, because people have moved and have not updated their details. And as our final note do not blame the rescue groups and shelters if your paperwork is not in order. They struggle to provide what is necessary to correct records when they are often giving inadequate paperwork by pounds and those surrendering their animals. And the demands being placed on them just heighten the work load of already stressed groups. They have no access to check microchip numbers themselves and are dependent on what is provided to them by others. As usual community fostercare networks like ours often feel we are fairly irrelevant in the greater scheme of things - after all we arent powerful, or have a lot of money, or have a loud voice. And this does seem to be the ultimate criteria of what rights you get!! However that certainly doesnt mean we wont keep campaigning for change in these areas.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 19:41:54 +0000