Microchips: a cat's ticket home

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Microchips a cat's ticket home
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• May is Chip Your Pet Month, a time to educate and
  celebrate that a chip the size of a grain of rice
  can save a cats life. Microchipping an animal,
  whether an indoor or a community cat, is the best
  way to ensure they will find their way back home.
  More cities around the nation understand the
  benefits of microchipping and are encouraging
  citizens to microchip the animals they care for.
• On May 7, Brooksville, Florida, made a
  proclamation at a city council meeting to
  officially declare May as Chip Your Pet Month in
  the city. The proclamation supports the
  microchipping of all owned animals and recognizes
  this tiny chip could make the difference
  between your pet finding their way home or being
  lost to you forever. The proclamation comes on
  the heels of another lifesaving change for cats
  in Brooksvilles Hernando County. In April, the
  county unanimously approved a new TNR program
  with Alley Cat Allies support.
• New York City is also going farther to harness
  the lifesaving power of the microchip. In
  February, the ASPCA announced a collaboration
  with the New York City Police Department to
  provide a microchip scanner to every precinct and
  police service area in the city. Hundreds of
  officers attended a microchip scanner
  demonstration to learn how to properly use the
  device. NYPD officers will now be armed with a
  tool to reunite lost animals with their families.
  Microchips and scanners also assist in the
  investigation of cruelty cases by leading
  officers directly to an abused or neglected
  animals owner.

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• These cities are an inspiration on this Chip Your
  Pet Month. This month, and every month, Alley Cat
  Allies Plan to Scan Campaign is helping even
  more communities adopt lifesaving microchip
  support by educating citizens, officials, shelter
  staff, animal control officers, and veterinarians
  about the importance of microchipping and
  scanning.
• Microchips are becoming mainstream, but if
  officials, veterinarians, and others fail to scan
  animals for them, they wont be useful. Alley Cat
  Allies will spread the word until all
  veterinarians encourage their clients to
  microchip, and all shelters adopt protocols to
  immediately scan each animal on intake. Alley Cat
  Allies guides can help your local shelter and
  veterinary clinic develop their own scanning
  policies.
• Consider these scenarios A hurricane sweeps
  through your city and your family is separated
  from your cat. A community cat in a colony you
  care for is picked up by a well-meaning but
  uninformed citizen or animal control officer and
  taken to a shelter. In these cases, a microchip
  could be the difference between finding your cat
  or losing her forever. Cats who are not
  microchipped are reunited with their family less
  than 2 percent of the time.

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• For community cats, microchips are especially
  vital. Because they are not socialized to people
  and are unadoptable, nearly 100 percent of
  community cats are killed in shelters nationwide.
  If these cats are microchipped, shelter staff can
  quickly locate their caregivers and get them out
  of the shelter and back outdoors. Community cats
  form strong bonds within their colony, so its
  important to return them to their specific
  outdoor home.
• This Chip Your Pet Month, celebrate by
  microchipping your animals (if you havent
  already) and informing your neighbors, friends,
  co-workers, and local shelter and veterinary
  staff about microchipping and scanning. Together,
  we can help create more happy endings for cats!

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