Seeing as there have been a few lost dog's recently (good luck BiGGieStuFF), and my Miniature Pinscher has escaped out of the backyard a few times, Iwas wondering how effective the Pet Microchip's are. When I got my min-pin, we received the chip and syringe to implant the rice sized chip, but she was too young to have the procedure done. Now that she is over a year old, I am considering having the chip implanted. The vet actually said it was not worth it as there had to be a vet with the sensor to decode the chip if the dog was even turned in. What are your thoughts on this? Does anyone have any success stories or heard of any using this implant?
I have a Min-Pin too. They are great dogs. My other dog is a husky mix and he is a roamer. If he got out, he could go for days. I've really thought about getting him the chip for that reason. For a Min-Pin, I don't think I would.
I cant do it. This is how it all starts, first they want to put the chips in fido and next they want to put one in me, next thing ya know I will have to have this Chip ID to buy food and services, then I will have to pray to the devil. No Thanks J/K (sort of)
I don't really see the advantage to a chip over dog tags, but my mom had one put in her dog anyway. I guess that's one way to ensure there's always ID on your dog, but it's not visible. It was pretty inexpensive I think. I've also heard that the companies that sell these implants give out reduced cost or free implant readers to veterinarians or animal shelters and make their money through the registration process. Not sure if that is rumor or not.
For some reason this concerns me a little also. You can sort of extrapolate how things might go: First, it's marketed as the panacea for 'never losing a pet'. Then, we market something similar for newborns under the onus of halting baby abductions. The whole 'slippery-slope' thing bothers me a little. Once we crack open that door, the whole damn thing gets kicked in. (Maybe I've watched Enemy of the State one too many times. )
It's a good thing to do. Most shelters and vets have the scanners. They are not expensive. I think it's very important in case your dog loses it's colar. The first place dogs normally go after being found by someone is the shelter. They automatically scan to see if there is a chip.
i'm definitely getting this for max if I ever find him. I was hoping it was like lo-jack for dogs though but this is a good backup to the dog tags.
Our new lab/golden mix puppy we rescued from the SPCA shelter already has the chip in him. It's standard from here out at this shelter. Too many new holiday pets around this time get abandoned on the porch of the pound or intentionally lost by about February, so they do it now as soon as they get a dog to put up for adoption. As for not being old enough... our puppy was 8 wks. when he had the "chip & snip" done, so no dog is too young. There is more info about it at 24petwatch.com... As for the "mark of the beast"/slippery slope theorists out there... This could very well be the beginning of this type of thing, except that a family in Minnesota volunteered to have chips inserted over a year ago, and it made the AP. Also, people in some of the Nippon (sp?) areas of Japan have been chipped for a decade or more. On the other hand, the Revelation stuff... will happen either way.
