HSUS, ASPCA, NACA, and other national animal care and control organizations have issued a warning to pet owners that new ISO microchips offered by Banfield and other pet hospitals may place your pets at risk. These chips are not able to be read by the scanners currently in place in almost every animal control / humane society nationwide. US standard chips offered by AVID and Schering Plough share a standard chip frequency and the readers in place for this style has proven one pass detection readers in widespread distribution. The "universal" scanners offered that read both styles do not meet this criteria at this time. Shelters are hard pressed to manage one scan one pass and multiscan multipass situations will render the procedure spotty at best.
From the HSUS Press Release:
"The warning comes as another company has entered the microchip market and is selling micro-chips in approximately 440 veterinary clinics housed in one of the nationâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s largest pet product retailers. Yet the company has not provided the end-users such as many of the nationâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s shelters, humane societies and veterinary hospitals with compatible scanners needed to detect the chips. As a result, the animal protection groups recommend that pet owners thinking about getting their pets micro-chipped contact both the chip manufacturer and their local shelter to make certain that compatible scanners are present in their community."
The Virginia Animal Control Association will be discussing this at our April 7 board meeting and will likely adopt a position on these chips on that date. Groups utilizing microchips should be aware that few if ANY Virginia shelters have multifrequency readers in place at this time; therefore, the chips do NOT provide the protection represented in their claims until the scanners ARE in place. Be careful and follow the advice in the release. The pet's life you save may be your own.
For more information on the release look at the link below.
http://www.hsus.org/ace/20788
From the HSUS Press Release:
"The warning comes as another company has entered the microchip market and is selling micro-chips in approximately 440 veterinary clinics housed in one of the nationâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s largest pet product retailers. Yet the company has not provided the end-users such as many of the nationâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s shelters, humane societies and veterinary hospitals with compatible scanners needed to detect the chips. As a result, the animal protection groups recommend that pet owners thinking about getting their pets micro-chipped contact both the chip manufacturer and their local shelter to make certain that compatible scanners are present in their community."
The Virginia Animal Control Association will be discussing this at our April 7 board meeting and will likely adopt a position on these chips on that date. Groups utilizing microchips should be aware that few if ANY Virginia shelters have multifrequency readers in place at this time; therefore, the chips do NOT provide the protection represented in their claims until the scanners ARE in place. Be careful and follow the advice in the release. The pet's life you save may be your own.
For more information on the release look at the link below.
http://www.hsus.org/ace/20788