Microchips are a great idea, now we have another why of tracking animals! If we could get every one on board microshipping and checking strays for the chip we could save a lot of animals !

Pros: good why to get pets back home

Cons: not everyone uses them

These avid chips are great. Every animal that is at our shelter gets one when it is adopted. They have proven to be very effective in finding owner information when we get a lost dog. Every dog that comes in is scanned for a chip. If it has a chip we can call avid and get the owner's phone number. If there is no chip then we have to hope that the animal either has tags or the owner knows to call us. These chips definately help pets and owners reunite much faster than the animals that don't have a chip. I would recommend that everyone get one for their pet, even if your pet wears a collar. It seems like they always manage to lose their collar when they get loose.
The only thing I caution about is to keep up on the news. I guess there has been an article about the possibility of linking these to health problems. I believe there still needs to be a lot more research to prove this though. I think there is more of a chance of getting cancer from your cell phone than your pet getting cancer from this chip. The electromagnetic radiation from this chip is nowhere near as powerful as your cell phone.

Pros: Great way to help your animals find their way back home

Cons: Need a special receiver to get number

We began microchipping all our cats and dogs before they are adopted from our rescue. The idea is to get a lost pet back home by identification.

This is a great idea - the only way it will work, however is if upon finding a stray or lost animal we scan it for a chip!

Pros: Great way to identify a dog!

Cons: Not all lost dogs are scanned for a chip!!!

I will always have my pets chipped. St Francois Society, our shelter, microchips all their animals. All you have to do to change it over is make a phone call. On several occasions we have had to go to the humane society to pick up one of our animals that someone adopted and threw away. Thank goodness for Avid. They are scanned when dumped and traced back to our shelter. Don't leave home without it.

Pros: none

Cons: none

I am a huge advocate of microchipping all dogs and cats. If a dog or cat is lost without ID tags (or if the tags come off for some reason, which happened to someone I know recently - her dog was found 2 months later but could have died from starvation) the chip is the best form of identification when he is found and turned in to a vet or shelter, or the police.

Pros: Makes identification of a lost dog possible

Cons: Needle to insert the chip hurts