Lost pets not scanned for microchips

Posted on March 23, 2006

How would you feel if your missing dog was found and the police, the dog warden and the rehoming centre did not bother to scan it to see if it was microchipped?

That's the question being posed by Eaton Bray's Nina Cole of Nina's Nannies for Pets, who is calling on all organisations involved in recovering pets to scan as a matter of course when missing dogs are handed in.

She told the Dunstable Gazette about a woman who reported her dog missing only for it to be handed in to Leighton Buzzard police station half an hour later.

It was not scanned at the station nor when it was handed to the dog warden, who took it to a rehoming centre in Nottingham, which also did not check for a microchip.

The pet owner was only reuninted with her pooch when a friend told her that strays were routinely taken to the Midlands.

She got in touch with the centre, where the dog was only 24 hours away from being rehomed.

Nina, of Cantilupe Close, said "There were three opportunities for that dog to be scanned and nobody bothered. It just makes a farce of the whole thing. They have to scan it, otherwise what's the point of having a dog microchipped?"

She said most people are very suprised to learn that dogs are not scanned as a matter of course. Some vets even fail to check for microchips when strays are brought in.

Now Nina, who has been in business for nine years, is backing Dolly's Directive, which is being publicised on the Dogslost website. The directive was launched by Candy King after her Jack Russell terrier Dolly went missing a year ago and, despite being microchipped, has never been found.

She wants to make it compulsory for the police, dog pounds, rehoming centres, charities and vets to scan for microchips and check for tatoos.

Supporter Nina pointed out that not only would this ensure that as many dogs as possible are reunited with their owners, but it would also save a lot of expense in looking after the dog and getting it rehomed.

Visit www.dogslost.co.uk for more information.

Source: Catherine Lofthouse, Dunstable Gazette, 22 March 2006