Faq

No surgery or anesthesia are required – the needle commonly used to insert the chips is not much bigger than needles used for typical injections. Your pet may experience some discomfort during the procedure, so many times chips are inserted while the animal is already under anesthesia (such as for a spaying or neutering service).

No. The microchip is not a GPS device so cannot track your pet’s location.

Not unless you utilize a service from a company like My Dog’s ID, My Cat’s ID, or Register My Puppy that offer QR code scanning that is linked to a microchip. When one of those QR codes are scanned they display your dog’s information and your contact information. They also will send you a text notification with the location where the scan of the QR code occurred.

Yes. The AVMA reports that in a study of more than 7,700 stray animals at animal shelters showed that dogs without microchips were returned to their owners 21.9% of the time, whereas microchipped dogs were returned to their owners 52.2% of the time. Cats without microchips were reunited with their owners only 1.8% of the time, whereas microchipped cats went back home 38.5% of the time. (Lord et al, JAVMA, July 15, 2009) For microchipped animals that weren't returned to their owners, most of the time it was due to incorrect owner information (or no owner information) in the microchip registry database – so don't forget to register and keep your information updated.

Just a 9-, 10- or 15-digit identification number. That number is then registered with one of the many pet registry services, where pet owner contact information is stored and maintained. Pet owners determine what, if any, contact information to provide to the registry. There is NO medical information saved on a microchip.

Then we recommend you utilize a cloud storage software specifically made for your pet’s health record. You can register directly with us or use one of our fine affiliates. Register My Puppy, My Dog’s ID, or My Cat’s ID work well for digital medical records.

Yes, for your lost pet to be reunited after scanning its microchip you must have registered the microchip with a participating registry! You can do this at any time.

Simply login to your account using your email and password you chose when you signed up. If you forgot your password utilize the “lost password” function and set a new one for your account. If you move or if you have adopted a pet which may have already been chipped, your veterinarian can scan your pet and provide the ID number. We recommend that you register with Register My Puppy, My Dog’s ID, or My Cat’s ID.

Yes, the 15-digit pet microchip is the international standard (see ISO 11784:1996 and ISO 11785:1996). If you travel to or move outside of the United States with your pet, consider having a 15-digit microchip implanted.

However, in the U.S., the Animal Welfare Act does not authorize the USDA-APHIS to regulate private pet ownership and concluded that it cannot mandate a national standard for pet microchips or scanners. Therefore, in the U.S., there are multiple microchip companies with multiple scanners, multiple radio frequencies, and multiple registration databases.

Combined with a collar and current name tag, a microchip increases the likelihood of a lost pet being safely reunited with its owner. However, even with a microchip scanner, identifying the correct pet recovery registry to contact can be challenging because microchip manufacturers and pet recovery services use different microchip technology and databases. That is why ours is so important! We help you recover your pet.

The National Dog Rescue Registry provides an internet-based application that enables veterinarians, humane organizations, pet owners or other persons to search various Pet Recovery Service registries and identify those registries on which a particular microchip is registered.

Our Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool works by checking the databases of the Participating Pet Recovery Service registries to determine which has registration information available for a microchip. Currently those include: My Dog’s ID, My Cat’s ID, and Register My Puppy.

Unlike AAHA we work with you to recover your pet. We will contact Veterinarians within 20 miles of the last reported location your pet was seen. Most pets that are recovered are found within 5 miles of their last reported location according to the SPCA.

We also provide a Lost and Found Poster format so you can easily upload a picture of your pet and put it up right away in public places.

AAHA does NOT trace your pet’s microchip by the owner who registered it. Many times, it is tracked to a broker or breeder who has microchipped the pet and then the pet has changed ownership several times making it impossible to track or get help locating information about your specific pet.