From the Chandler Independent Newspaper, Wednesday, July 6th, 2005...

Community News

Posse gets pet microchip ID scanners

The Sun Lakes Sheriff’s Posse recently received a donation of five new pet microchip ID scanners that will assist in reuniting pets with their families.

More and more pets these days are being identified with a tiny microchip, which is implanted just under their skin between the shoulder blades. If lost, the pet can be identified by the microchip ID scanner and returned to their owners. Now the Sun Lakes Sheriff’s Posse joins local animal shelters, humane societies and veterinarians in including these scanners in their arsenal to help identify and return lost pets in the Sun Lakes/South Chandler region.

These high tech electronic devices, which were donated by nearby Sun Lakes Animal Clinic, consist of five pet microchip ID scanners; one for each Sheriff’s Posse patrol car and one the Sun Lakes Sheriff’s Posse headquarters.

From the Chandler Independent Newspaper, Wednesday, July 13th, 2005...

Sun Lakes Posse: Now equipped for lost pets…

DONATED SCANNERS PROVE EFFECTIVE

By Alex Pickett

Independent Newpapers

Last week, a woman brought Cmdr. Louis F. DiGirolamo a sad sight. A small dog had been lost and wandering on Dobson Road near Riggs Road.

The pet was hot, its feet pads burned and Mr. DiGirolamo said if it had remained out in the sun one more hour, it probably would have been dead.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, dropped off the dog to the Sun Lakes Sheriff’s Posse station, hoping the all-volunteer police force could find the owner. But the dog had no collar, and the Posse had not received any calls concerning a lost dog. There was seemingly no way to identify the animal.

Before last week, if the Sun Lake’s Sheriff’s Posse found a lost cat or dog without a collar they could do nothing but call the Humane Society and hope for the best. But Dr. Randy Walker of the Sun Lakes Animal Clinic changed that when he donated five new microchip I.D. scanners to the Posse. The $395 scanners can retrieve signals from any animal implanted with a pet I.D. microchip: the microchips have identifying information that can locate a pet owner or veterinarian.

Luckily, Mr. DiGirolamo said the dog had a microchip and he was able to reunite the dog with its owner.

“Less than a day with this and the thing does its job.” he sad about the scanners.

Mr. DiGirolamo said the scanners are very helpful, especially in the Sun Lakes region.

“Lately, within six months, there’s been a lot of people with dogs missing.” he said, adding that it is easy for animals to get out and wander far without the owner ever knowing about it.

However, with a microchip, the animal is traceable.

Dr. Randy Walker of the Sun Lakes Animal Clinic donated the scanners after hearing about the Posse’s inability to find the owners of escaped pets without a collar.

“It just seemed like it was a good thing to do.” said Dr. Walker.

The microchips are about the size of a grain of rice and are implanted through a needle just under the skin between the shoulder blades of the animal. Dr. Walker said implanting the microchips is a good idea for pet owners, even if they have animals that are always inside.

“You would be surprised. A person doesn’t think they’d really need it.” he said adding that a pet should still have a collar on.

Dr. Walker said his clinic does two or three implants a week, but he said they should be doing a lot more.

“It’s a good idea for everyone.” he said. “It will certainly save the pets if they get lost…I’ve got one in my cat.”

According to Dr. Dan Knox of AVID Microchip I.D. Systems, pet microchips work like small radios. When the scanner is placed over an animal, the microchip sends out a 125 kHz signal that is translated into a nine-digit number on the scanner.

When the Sun Lakes Sheriff’s Posse calls the 24-hour AVID recovery services and give them the number, the AVID staff can pull up the vet who implanted the chip and the owner’s contact information.

“The microchip never wears out,” said Dr. Knox, “It is engineered for over a million reads.”

Dr. Knox also added the microchips do not have any moving parts and are encased in biocompatible glass, so there are not adverse effects on pets.

Some Scanners do not pick up other companies’ microchips, however Dr. Walker said 95 percent of microchips are either from AVID Microchip I.D. Systems or Home Again.

“It should pick up any brand out there,” he said about the donated scanners.

Tiah Foster, a Sun Lakes Phase II resident for three years, said she has microchips in all four of her cats. Though her cats always stay inside and she has never had to use it, Ms. Foster said that it is important to do “just in case”. Handymen or other visitors can let a cat out unknowingly, she said.

“I’m real careful with them, but I know cats are real good about getting outdoors,” said Ms. Foster. “I just wanted a backup system for safety.”

Even with a microchip, sometimes it takes a good deed to help a lost pet, said Mr. DiGirolamo. He said he is thankful to the woman who found the lost dog.

“She took time out of her day going to work to drop this dog off.” he said.

Post your comment on this issue at newsblog.info/0102. Chandler News Editor Alex Pickett can be reached at apickett@newszap.com or at 480-497-0048.