Science Fiction or fact?

It may sound far-fetched, but a tiny piece of modern technology can help you find a lost pet much more easily. 
Electronics in your pet? Well, it is only a small piece of equipment for a whole lot of animal.
This page is all about animal chipping. For dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, or whatever.
 
Any owner is distraught if their beloved pet goes missing. Naturally, you contact the local rescue services and shelters. And then, all too often, the waiting begins. With all the uncertainty about what has happened to your lost companion.

But now you can do something to help find your missing pet. Chip it!

The most widely-used pet identification system up until now has been tattooing. A number is tattooed on the skin and recorded in a database so that, if necessary, information about the animal and the owner can be traced. However, this system has two disadvantages: tattooing itself is painful and after a while the number can become difficult or even impossible to read. But now there is an alternative...

A small transponder - a sort of microchip - containing a unique registration number is inserted under the skin. The animal hardly feels a thing: the insertion process is comparable with a normal injection. The major advantage, though, is that the transponder signal never fades. And because the chip meets the so-called ISO standard, it is even recognisable abroad. In some countries - including popular holiday destinations - chips are now compulsory. And most boarding catteries and kennels also require that your pet be chipped or tattooed.

But there are more advantages.

For instance, you avoid your pet ending up at an animal shelter. They cost money, particularly if you have to wait until after the weekend to pick up your dog or cat. And, of course, that delays being reunited with them.
You often hear people say, "But I didn't ask for my dog to be picked up and dumped in the shelter - there's nothing wrong with him." Or, "Well, she has an address cylinder on her collar." This remains a difficult and sensitive point.

But missing pets do not just "end up" in the shelter. The police or member of the public usually ask them to pick up apparently lost, abandoned or stray homeless animals. These run the risk of causing or being the victims of an accident. And you, as the owner, could be held legally liabile for the consequences. So it is always better that a stray animal be caught, for its own safety and that of other road users.
 
Address tags and cylinders are relatively easy to lose. We frequently receive cats with the cap of their cylinder and the address slip missing. If they had been chipped, their trip to the refuge might have been unnecessary.
Your vet or local animal refuge can provide more information about 'chipping'.