After a company that provides microchip services for pets suddenly shuttered this week, pet owners across the U.S. are concerned and confused.
Save This Life, a Texas-based microchip service, was one of the dozens of companies on the American Animal Hospital Association’s (AAHA) Pet Recovery Service Registry. According to the association, the abrupt, unexplained closure of the company prompted veterinary offices and pet shelters to post alerts on social media, which added to confusion.
What are pet microchips?
Pet owners can have small electronic chips encased in glass cylinders about the size of a grain of rice inserted under their pet’s skin with a hypodermic needle, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) explained. These microchips are activated by scanners that will display identification numbers from the chips. Injection of the chips is not painful and does not require anesthesia.
“The microchips presently used in pets only contain identification numbers. The microchip is not a GPS device and cannot track your animal if it gets lost,” the AVMA said. “Although the microchip itself does not contain your pet’s medical information, some microchip registration databases will allow you to store that information in the database for quick reference.”
If pet owners want to use the microchips to find their pets, they must register the chip and provide contact information. Lost animals are scanned by shelters and veterinary clinics.
A 2009 study of more than 7,700 stray animals at animal shelters in 23 states from the AVMA showed that microchipped animals are more likely to be returned to their owners than those without microchips. In fact, that study showed that microchipped dogs were returned at almost double the rate of non-chipped animals and that the return rate for cats was even higher.
What happens when a microchip service closes?
Per the AAHA, the closure of Save This Life should be a source of concern for pet owners if their pets have chips from the service. It means that those chips will no longer have owner information attached to the chip’s identifier number. The company was removed from the AAHA Microchip Registry Lookup tool after searchers for it began failing.
AAHA posted on the lookup tool page that Save This Life chip information was disconnected from the registry database. AAHA advises pet owners to contact their veterinarian with any questions.
“We immediately tried to reach Save This Life to learn what was happening,” said AAHA Chief Value Officer Keith Chamberlain. “Unfortunately, phone lines were down, and email inquiries came back stating Save This Life staff were aware of the problem and working through the issues. After continued search failures, we made the decision to disconnect them from the AAHA search tool, and we are encouraging pet owners to contact their veterinarian to determine if they need to re-register their microchip with another registry.”
BuddyID, another microchip service company, was temporarily offering free registration for pet owners impacted by the Save This Life closure, AAHA said.
What happened to Save This Life?
According to the AAHA, the Texas Secretary of State’s website shows that the company says the company has lost its right to do business in Texas because its “Franchise Tax Involuntarily Ended.” Citing the Secretary of State’s site, the AAHA said this means that “the entity’s registration or certificate was ended as a result of a tax forfeiture or an administrative forfeiture by Texas Secretary of State.”