I am Heather from
Brown Eyed Bell(e), and I am a daily reader (well, I try to be, sometimes the
daily part doesn't work out, BUT, I always catch back up) of Laura's blog. Laura was actually one of my very first bloggy friends.
Exciting! She's such a sweetie. I have been so excited to find and network with so many other Christian bloggers;
what a blessing. Laura allowed me to do my
first ever guest post back in May when she allowed me to post about some of my passions in
giving with cause, and she has allowed me to come back and fill a slot while she is enjoying a
much deserved vacation (have fun!) with her family. Thanks Laura!
One of the things I share in common with Laura is the love we have for our
pets furbabies. You may have seen Laura mention her dogs, Zia & Samson, are her other children. And if you are a fellow animal lover, you understand. Today I am going to share with you a story about microchipping. The good, and the
bad not so good.
I am a strong supporter of microchips in animals. As a volunteer @ my local SPCA, I have seen first hand animals being reunited with their owners after just a few short hours of being lost, all the way up to being reunited years later. Can you imagine?! It's amazing when a family dog is reunited with its owners after years of being gone. I've even picked up strays myself and had them scanned only to find a mircochip. YAY! makes finding the rightful owner
that much easier.
BUT, while microchips are great, I do want to make sure as pet owners, we are all aware that they are not a guarantee that your pet will be found. Just because a dog or cat has been microchipped does
NOT always mean it will find its way home.
I myself am a prime example of that. I lost a cat once that was microchipped.
The system let me down.
Here is the story (I'll try to keep it on the short end). It happened in August of 2006. Now, if you've ever read my blog, you know August is a hard month for me. It's the month my mother passed away. In the past, I used to get pretty depressed come August. Well, August of 2006 was extra hard as not only was I already sad but I also had come down with a bad cold.
I was out of it and not nearly as attentive as usual. You see, I have indoor/outdoor cat's (side note: I have cat's that have lived their life as indoor outdoor cats and are 15+ years old, it doesn't shorten their life-span), so, it's not uncommon for me not to see one for a few days if it's hanging out in the backyard. One day, I realized it'd been a few days since I'd seen one of my cats. I asked my boyfriend at the time, and my Dad, if they'd seen
Lucky, and no one had. I immediately went to work making signs for a lost cat. I posted them locally.
A day or two later, an elderly woman from the 55+ community behind our house called me and said she'd seen my sign up at the laundry mat, and that she'd seen a cat like mine get taken away by animal control. She said they (apparently) had a feral cat problem in the trailer park and that one of her neighbors put traps out, caught the cats, and called
the pound to come pick them up.
And, that's what happened. My cat had been picked up by animal control.
Problem? None of my cats wore collars at the time. I naively thought that a microchip was sufficient. SO, they came, picked up my cat (that did NOT even remotely resemble a feral, he was a
fat, neutered, well taken care of) cat. They picked up my cat that was microchipped... and you know what happened?
He was put down (euthanized) before I ever even realized he was missing.
It hurts my heart when I remember that time. I don't place blame on the shelter, as a volunteer at my local SPCA, I understand the over crowding that goes on at any given shelter. What upsets me is that I
do feel like the ball was dropped. My ex boyfriend went to the shelter first to look for Lucky, he told me he didn't see any cats that resembled him. The next day, I drove up there myself and I also took the address of the location where he was "supposedly" picked up at. They typed that address in the system and an abundance of cats popped up. They told me I definitely had a trapper on my hands. The lady from that address had trapped and turned in an abundance of cats. As they were scrolling through pictures I saw him. I saw Lucky! I said "that's my cat!!" and she said "hold on, lemme check the status" I was standing over her shoulder as we scrolled through the pics, and again, being another volunteer from another local shelter, I knew the terminology and I could see on the screen the "due out" date which had already come and gone. My heart started beating faster, and the tears came. I told her "if your screen is right, he is already gone".
 |
| Lucky's animal control "mug shot" |
Then the hysterics started. I was a bawling mess. I remember crying and asking "don't you guys scan for microchips?!" and what the worker answered will forever stick with me. She said "unfortunately ma'am, time doesn't always allow" Wait a minute! What?! REALLY!? Yup. That is what she said, that time didn't always allow them to scan. Now, granted, this lady was a young girl, probably a volunteer getting service hours for high school, however, I truly believe what she said to me to be true. I don't think she even realized what she was saying was wrong, and she likely got in trouble or fired for what she told me. They sent me to the back to speak with a director after that. The director "assured" me they had a three tier system for checking for chips, that they scanned at intake, they scanned before they went out for adoption, and that they scanned one last time before euthanasia. While she assured me that was the case, the words from the lady up front will always haunt me. I truly believe what she said, that "
unfortunately, time doesn't always allow". It's sad because it makes me wonder how many other times this has happened (I only personally know of
one other case, thankfully I was able to help them find there dog at animal control BEFORE it was adopted out, or worse, put down) and someone's family pet was put down before they made it there. I don't know how long your local shelters hold pets, but for our local animal services, healthy pets
WITHOUT a tag at intake are only held for
4 days, pet's that come in
WITH a tag are only held for
7 days.
That's not a lot of time friends.
So, my suggestion to you is; please, on top of making sure your pet is chipped (you can get a deal on this from local shelters and vets, just ask) it's always a good idea to make sure they wear a collar 24/7. This is something I still struggle with. My dogs at home don't wear their collars unless they are going out for a walk or something special (normally they are in our fenced back yard) BUT if they were ever to dart out the door, or escape from the back yard, without a collar, their chance at survival or being returned is slimmer. As for cats, I know there is often the fear if they stay outside that their collar will get hung up and they'd choke. They make "break away" safety collars that you can buy specifically for that purpose. SO, if your cat jumped a fence or crawled under, and got caught, the collar would break and set them free. I've went through quite a few of these so obviously my cats are up to no good outside. :D In all seriousness though, these are things that we sometimes forget to think about as pet owners. And also just as important, if you ever
find a stay, take it to your nearest vet or shelter to get scanned and checked for a chip. If your pet is already chipped, be sure
every time you take it in for a routine check up, etc, that you have the office scan them and ensure the chip has not migrated (they can do that!). This is why it's important that all shelters do
full body scans. The chip could be anywhere!
