1. What is microchipping for pets?

Microchips for pets are devices that provide a unique, permanent identification for pets and allow lost pets to be quickly reunited with their owners.

2. How do microchips work?

Microchips are small micro-capsules about the size of a grain of rice that are inserted by a veterinarian (much like a vaccination) under the loose skin on the back of the neck between the shoulder blades. When read by a scanner, radio waves return a unique identification number that can be looked up in a database and allow the owner to be identified and contacted.

3. Are microchips safe for pets?

Yes, the microchips themselves are inert and encased with bio-compatible materials, typically glass.

4. Can the radio frequencies used to read the microchips harm the pets?

No, the power levels used for reading microchips is very low. For comparison, they are significantly lower in power than the radio signals we use every day to listen to music.

5. Are the microchips powered or do they have batteries?

No, microchips have no moving parts and carry no on-board power source. Power for reading the chips comes from the scanner. As a result, they last for the entire life of the pet without need for replacement or replenishment.

6. Who has scanners for reading the microchips and how broadly are they available?

Nearly every shelter, animal control organization and veterinarian in the U.S has scanners available. However, the majority of scanners available today can only read a portion of the microchips available. Although some scanners today are called "Universal Scanners", they are universal only for a segment of the possible types of chips.

7. Is there more than one type of microchip available?

Yes, there are several competing formats of microchips available in the United States today. They are differentiated by the frequency at which they operate and by whether they are encrypted or not. Two manufacturers in the US operate at a frequency of 125 kHz. Another operates at 134.2 kHz. One of the 125 kHz manufacturers uses an encrypted chip that can only be read by scanners that have permission to unencrypt the number.

8. Why is this a problem?

If a pet has been microchipped and becomes lost, the correct scanner must be available to read the microchip in order to reunite the owner and pet. If the correct scanner is not available, the microchip will be missed. Unfortunately, there are documented cases of lost pets that had been microchipped, but were euthanized before they could be reunited with their owners because the correct scanner was not available.