|
|
|
"The animals have no voice but ours..." |
|
Help Your Baby get Home May 9, 2008 We’ve had a bit of a frustrating time of late at CVAS. Stray dogs have come into the shelter recently and when we’ve scanned them, we actually got microchip numbers. This, in and of itself, can be quite a rarity, so I can’t tell you how excited it makes us to find a possible match to an owner. That’s exactly what microchips are for – indeed, my theory is that if every animal had a microchip, we’d never have strays again. Unfortunately, in two of our most recent microchip finds, they were both dead ends. When we traced the number, the address was either old or the phone had been disconnected. In the past, we’ve found microchip information as far away as Texas and believe it or not, the UK. None of those panned out either. I cannot tell you how unbelievably frustrating it is for shelter workers to know stray animals have owners, but because those folks didn’t think to update their address on the microchip when they moved, we can’t make a connection with them and get a pet back home. It makes us feel so ineffective and goes against the grain. It’s the exact opposite of what we spend our days, weeks and months trying to do. I’ll tell you right now, one of the reasons we see animals at this shelter is due to lack of identification. Dogs or cats get away from people and with no way to identify them, there’s no way they can get back to mom and dad. And some of the little ones can make it a lot farther than anyone would think. Microchips are great, but people have to remember to not only put the information in their names when their pet gets the microchip, but also keep it updated through the various moves that can happen in life. Additionally, if you ever come to the point where you need to find another home for your dog, make sure the name under the microchip number gets changed to the proper owners. Microchips really only work when they can actually be traced back to the owner. I’d also caution folks not to rely completely on the microchip number as a form of identification. Collars and ID tags should still be on your dog at all times when he or she is out of the house. Yes, they’ve been known to fall off, but there have been times when we’ve had strays come in with a current license we were able to trace. So keep them on just in case your pup would slip out the door or get out of the yard. I’ve also seen tattoos on animals. They’re clearly permanent and can’t fall off, but like humans, tattoos can fade and become obscured even on animals. A few years ago we had a sweet dog come to the shelter and we found a tattoo. Problem is – we couldn’t read it. Literally had no idea what the numbers were supposed to be. Again, equally frustrating. So this is a message to pet owners. Make sure your four-legged babies have some way to identify them as yours. And always remember, if your situation changes, make sure your pet’s identification changes right along with it. Keeping information up-to-date is another way to make certain that should the worst happen and you lose your baby, at least you’ve got a really good chance of having them find their way home again. ***** Jennifer Vanderau is the Director of Communications for the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter and can be reached at cvasoc@innernet.net. The shelter accepts both monetary and pet supply donations. For more information, call the shelter at 263-5791 or visit the website www.cvas-pets.org. Animals available for adoption can be viewed at www.petfinder.org. CVAS also operates thrift stores in Chambersburg and Shippensburg. Help support the animals at the shelter by donating to or shopping at the stores.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
|
|
CVAS, Inc.