Episode 37: Microchipping your pet, yes or no, with Kim Bloomer of Aspenbloom Pet Care

September 6, 2007

I have quite a menagerie at my home on Sunnyside Farm in mid-Missouri: 3 dogs (one of which is a new puppy), 4 cats (2 inside and 2 outside), and 8 chickens. Believe it or not, they all get along marvelously and tend to hang at the house. That doesn’t mean I don’t think about one of them wandering off or maybe getting picked up. If that were to happen, how would I be reunited with my lost child?

One of the methods of keeping track of your pet these days is also quite controversial: microchipping. Microchipping consists of implaning a tiny chip about the size of a grain of rice into your pet. The chip contains information about you, the pet owner. If your pet gets lost and is found by an animal control officer or other compassionate individual, he or she may end up at the local animal shelter. If your pet carries a microchip, the staff at the animal shelter can use a handheld scanner to scan him or her and get the information they need to get your friend back home to you. That’s the intent. As we all know, the road to hell is often paved with good intentions and in this case, we take a look at some of those paving stones to help you decide if microchipping is the method you want to use to track your pet. What are the things you need to consider before you choose to microchip your pet? What other methods of identification are available? Can the microchipping insertion harm your pet? Can all shelters read the information contained on the chip with the scanner(s) they have on hand?

We discuss all this and more so make sure you listen to the podcast. Oh, yeah, just like I promised, you also get to hear Kim and me sing!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Posted in Views From The Coop