Animal Welfare and Microchipping:
For the love of all our furbabies…
What good are programs and rescues if the public is uninformed and not actively participating for the good of all?
I thought I was being such a great responsible pet owner in getting my cats all fixed and microchipped. But what is the purpose behind microchipping if the system is not known, or is not being promoted, or used effectively?
I am frustrated with all I have recently found out about microchipping and lost pets.
When you take your pet into a veterinary clinic for any kind of service, you can choose to have your pet microchipped for the purpose of registering your animal to record your name and home information. This is a wonderful concept in being able to reunite animals with their owners, or so I understood.
There are a few things about this that I did not quite understand until recently.
The vet clinic will microchip your pet, but up until recently, not all clinics would REGISTER your pet properly on a main registry site. This was left up to the owner. Was that information in the fine print that we skimmed over and missed? Thankfully with our most recent experience the clinic did register our animals on bcpetregistry.com
Next, there are options for one year renewal, or lifetime renewal. In our case, two of our cats from several years ago were only listed as one year. Their registry information expired after a time and it was up to me to renew with a new payment. I renewed for lifetime instead! I did not know at first that I was supposed to renew, so our registry “expired” for a time until I realized it was my responsibility to re-register.
There are all sorts of reasons and situations why animals may get separated from their homes. Why is there so much judgement and assumptions on social media posts? This is just one reason why people refrain from posting missing animal posts.
Who are we to judge? Self righteous social media trolls are the bane of modern online existence.
Maybe there was an unexpected upset in a pet’s environment and they managed to escape.
Thunderstorms. Loud noises. Fireworks.
Maybe company visiting brought their animals and there was an upset between the pets and the visitors.
Families move.
Maybe they got out of a vehicle while traveling.
Maybe they are just aligned with their animal instincts and went exploring and lost their way home.
Whatever the reason, it is enough of an issue that the idea of microchipping animals and having a registry to record information for the purpose of reuniting pets with their homes is actually a thing now.
Great concept, but does it actually work?
Why is there not more public education on the reason behind microchipping and encouraging the public that checking for a microchip on a found animal is the FIRST course of action recommended?
There are all sorts of social media groups where you can post a found pet, but honestly, there is limited exposure in these groups with just pictures and details. Not everyone understands that these groups are not always public and there are all sorts of exposure factors and algorithms that affect these posts being seen by the right people to reunite pets with their proper homes.
Posters around your neighborhood is a great idea to alert neighbors but what about those cases where some cruel human has trapped and relocated an animal so posters may not be effective either?
From some comments on social media, I get the feeling that people do not automatically bring a found animal to a vet clinic to get scanned for a chip because they think they will be stuck being charged with a vet bill in case of an injury. I called our regular vet clinic and they confirmed that NO they do not charge anyone who brings an animal in to get scanned. In the case of injury, the animal is surrendered to the SCPA for bill payment and responsibility of care until the owner can be found. They suggested that this is a usual protocol with most vet clinics. The SPCA (Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is a recognized 120-year-old charitable rescue organization that promotes education in the welfare of animals and has several shelters in many communities across Canada.
Some people apparently are hesitant to bring an animal to a vet clinic or to the SPCA for fear of euthanasia. It is my understanding that many places have a “no kill” policy in place where they do their best to care for an animal in their jurisdiction and relocate to other areas whenever needed and possible.
Perhaps there are well meaning people that need to consider that a pet may have a home and it is not their responsibility to take on care themselves without first taking an animal to a vet clinic or other facility that can scan the animal to find their original owners. How do we educate the public and particularly these types of people?
Where else can a found animal be taken to be scanned? Vet clinics for sure. The local SPCA. There are some pet stores that also offer to scan a found animal. A lost animal website in the U.S.A. suggested that local police can also scan for a microchip, but I have confirmed that is not the case in Canada as far as our local police station tells me.
We have some local private charity rescues. I have found out that they do not have microchip scanners. This is shocking to me and the SPCA was surprised to hear this as well when apparently scanners are fairly easy to come by. Why is scanning for microchips not a priority for these rescues?
As I understand, these rescues are involved with feral populations, and hoarding and abuse situations. Fostering and rehoming is also part of their programs. One tells me that their jurisdiction is small communities a few hours away.
My question is where did these animals come from in the first place when it could be possible that an animal has been relocated purposely or inadvertently and ended up far away in poor situations in need of rescue.
I gladly support ethical animal care and rescues, but I really have to question their policies when scanning for a microchip is not a first priority in responsibility of care.
I thought I was being such a responsible pet owner in getting all our animals fixed and chipped. I had our cats spayed and neutered at the SPCA clinic which has a discounted rate and general spay/ neuter service. I chose the lifetime microchip option for all of them and received an email from the bcpetregistry.com site confirming that they were registered. According to this site, our cats are listed across Canada and can even be checked in this website from anywhere in the world.
Since July 2022, one by one, four of our five cats disappeared. The momma cat and 3 boys we took in last fall. Diamond got freaked out with company we had here with their rambunctious dog. I didn’t think that was a problem but apparently that is why Diamond escaped and took off. One by one Meeko, Max, and momma Linda went looking for their family.
In my efforts to locate our cats, I have called, messaged, and shown up at the local shelter in communication with the SPCA. I have found out that lost animals can be flagged as missing on the bcpetregistry site, but there is also a bcpetsearch.com site where lost and found animals can also be listed. These two sites are associated with the SPCA. I knew about the first site, but I did not know about the second site until recently.
During my visit to the shelter, I was informed that some pets fall through the cracks with the microchip registry because not all owners update their information regularly. The shelter also has a 72 hour hold policy and animals can be adopted out after that. They assured me that my pets are registered, flagged as missing, and that they are actively watching for our pets. If one of our cats shows up at a vet clinic or shelter, they are supposed to be scanned first and reunited with us. They will call us for sure. I hope so.
I KNOW my cats are alive so why are they not coming home? Well, it is now my understanding that someone may have taken them in thinking they are homeless or have been dumped.
More details of our personal experience and our kitty mascots here: https://ladybugwellness.ca/mascots/
Back to the frustrating information I found out through my phone calls on this topic.
How do I get the message out that the whole reason behind getting animals microchipped is so we can be reunited if ever we are separated. It doesn’t work very well if someone finds them and doesn’t take them in anywhere to get scanned.
In my frustration, I called the SPCA and asked about doing a public awareness general information media blitz on the reasons behind microchipping and reuniting pet owners and animals. I spoke to a very nice lady who is the program director for British Columbia. They had already been thinking of doing this and asked if I would be willing to be interviewed. They said that having a real-life person would be more personable and effective in a campaign than just a generic blitz from them. I suggested rounding up some personalized stories of those who have been reunited through the efforts of microchipping their pets. (Do you have a success story and willing to share publicly?).
They did tell me that it is hard to get this message out when there are other private companies out there. Whaat? You mean there is not one main database for microchipped animal registry? Apparently not. What happens if a private company closes their doors? What happens to all the registered microchips and data?
I made a few more phone calls and found out some things I did not realize previously.
I found out that our regular vet clinic uses microchips from https://microchipsolutions.com/en/
They also use a registry through that company. So, I called that company. I was switched over to a manager who seemed annoyed with my inquiries as to why there is not a Canada wide main registry for animals. She said it’s kinda like getting McD’s and Arby’s to join forces.
For many of us animal lovers, we are more likely to compare situations to human children as our furbabies really are our FAMILY.
So, for me, her comparison did not sit well with me.
Maybe I watch too many true crime shows. When police forces finally joined their data bases and criminal investigations, they were able to see more patterns and catch more serial criminals.
Does anyone remember the Adam Walsh story and how Child Find was created?
Would it not be more beneficial to have a cross country data base for animals as well? They are sentient beings. We have domesticated them and I think we owe it to our furry companions to make sure they have the best care we are able to provide.
Anyway, this lady at “M4S ID Solutions” explained that there are many companies that make microchips, and each seems to have their own database. Apparently, there is a main database of sorts through https://www.aaha.org/ but that still does not mean that all these registries are aligned or working together for the best welfare of the animals and not just the greed in their pockets. The vet clinic I talked to said that they go through their own registries then have to go look up their own records and other registry sites if necessary. In the age of internet, I just find this frustrating and tedious.
I mistakenly had the understanding that my cats would be registered and returned to me quickly if they ever got out and separated from home. I guess I thought microchipping a pet was kind of like getting a birth certificate for a new human baby.
I am sad. I am frustrated. I am kinda pissy too when I realize that I spent almost $2000 on our pets to get them all taken care of properly, only to have one get of our home while we had company here and the rest followed to go find their bro.
I am sad that there does not seem to be an aligned effort in our community to return animals to their rightful owners.
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While I am at it, I might as well share some thoughts on spaying and neutering animals and other animal welfare concerns. I grew up in a rural community. We had numerous dogs over the years. My father didn’t like cats or dogs. Honestly, his attitude was pretty common from what I knew of some of our neighbors. I have all sorts of horrible stories from growing up in what I saw with animal care and overpopulation all through our community. It is no wonder that I am so unsettled on the topic of animal welfare and trying my best to be a voice for our furry friends.
What I now know is that animals are sentient beings. If we are to have them domesticated and living in our homes, they deserve our best care. Owning an animal is a privilege not a right. This is a tough topic because animals can be so instrumental in our own well being, yet not everyone can afford to properly care for a pet. They are many lower income, rural, elderly, and mental health situations where having a pet would be a great benefit in responsibility and companionship.
It is so unfortunate that in the 2 years of sporadic global shutdown, many people took in animals for various reasons but are now surrendering them in droves. In my work as an energy balancing practitioner, I also work with animals. I can tune into their energy and feel the abandonment issues. This only drives me more to want to care for our pets in the best way I can.
In my opinion there should be a lot more public awareness and emphasis on spaying and neutering feral populations and domesticated populations of animals as well. Get the root of the issue first so that all animals can receive the care they need. There are not enough vet clinics and veterinarians to keep up with populations so it would be more effective, in my opinion, to have affordable spaying and neutering available to curb the root cause of overpopulation. I know there are some campaigns to take a team to rural communities to set up a mission type spay and neuter clinic. I honestly think this should be an option everywhere.
Spaying and neutering procedures are better for the overall health of the animal in limiting spraying and roaming tendencies. Public awareness of ethical breeding practices needs to be more encouraged as well. There is a lot of money to be made in animal breeding, and this is where many of the rescue and abuse cases come from when breeding turns into hoarding situations.
Again there are no easy answers, but I keep praying that more and more humans will become sensitive to the plight of animals overall and that we can bring out more awareness on a grander scale to be better stewards of the animals in our communities.
And, I keep praying that our furbaby family will find their way back to us one way or another.
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I reached out to a dear long time friend Matt Porteous. He is a former radio announcer and music director, a political science alumnus, and quite an outspoken voice in our community. I have always respected his views and insights.
Here is what Matt had to say:
“I mean…. I hear your concern. But it’s a cost issue. It costs a lot of money to own run and operate a national database. SPCA can’t do it. All other rescues are at the end of their dollars. And the government sure as hell isn’t going to pitch in. So, your best bet these days is a collar with a QR code on it with your address as well as a microchip and a collar with a physical tag.
The bottom line is that the government doesn’t value your pets. At all… other than the tax dollars they get from us purchasing things for them.
We can try to promote the microchips… but even that seems like wasted effort at this point. Because promotion is expensive and no one is shelling out right now. So, I’d say spend your money on resources to keep your cats in the house and also identified easily with technology.
Asking the system to take care of it is unreasonable seeing as they can’t even manage what’s in front of them at the moment.
From a 10,000 foot level, My belief is that we need less social programs and more individual accountability. For pretty much everything.
There’s nothing wrong with a chip. There’s a certain portion of the population that will look for that when they find a pet. There’s a certain portion pf the population that will scan a QR code. There’s a certain portion that will read a tag. So do all 3″.
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Yet again, Matt is right on the money. Personal accountability would have been me getting tracking collars on them right away. I have excuses of a lot of personal things going on this past summer with losses of loved ones etc. But that doesn’t change the fact that my babies got out and all they have is a microchip which so far hasn’t brought them home.