Although it’s a legal requirement for dogs and cats in England to be microchipped, too often owners fail to keep their details up to date in the database, which makes it harder for them to be tracked down should their beloved lost pet be found and brought to a shelter or rescue centre.
There are remarkable stories of pets being reunited with their families sometimes years after initially going missing. People magazine recently shared a heartwarming story of dog Blue, who went missing during a hurricane in Texas eight years ago.
According to the magazine, Blue was found in a public restroom some 300 miles away from her family’s home. The person who found Blue took her to a local shelter where they scanned her for a microchip – and using the details stored were able to reunite her with her family.
In 2023, Battersea reported it had seen a nine per cent increase in the number of stray dogs and cats being brought in without a microchip between 2021 and 2023. What’s more, of the dogs that were microchipped, 72 per cent had inaccurate information on the database.
This highlights the importance of making sure you update your pet’s microchip information regularly.
As Blue’s story – and countless others – shows, when you keep your details updated in the relevant database, there is the possibility that you could be reunited with your lost or stolen pet months or even years down the line.
However, if you fail to update your information, especially when you move or if your phone number changes, you make it more difficult for shelters and rescue centres to get hold of you. That means it’s less likely that your pet will be returned to you if they are brought to a shelter.
So, remember, while getting your pet’s microchip inserted is an important first step, it won’t help in the long run if you forget to check that your contact details in the database are current.
