Microchipping has proven in a very short time to be the most effective means of providing your pet with permanent identification.

Microchips are small electronic chips that are assigned a number which can be identified with a microchip reader. Collars are tags are an excellent means of identifying your pet, but what if the collar comes off? Once the microchip is placed, it is a permanent means to identify your pet!  The microchips that Dutch Fork Animal Hospital uses, resQ, are registered with an online international companion animal microchip directory -- PetLink.  This way, if your pet is ever lost, the microchip can be scanned and the information called into PetLink. PetLink will then contact you or your veterinarian to bring your pet home! 

Microchipping can be done quickly and easily at your veterinarian's office.  It does not require surgery and is well tolerated by animals.  If your contact information ever changes, it can be quickly updated by visiting PetLink's website.  Just look at the facts:

* Approximately 8-12 million companion animals are taken in by animal shelters annually

* 5-9 million animals are euthanized each year.

* How many animals are recovered thanks to their microchips? 258,003

The time to think about microchipping is now.

Call us to schedule your microchipping appointment now! There are many success stories using microchips and we have had one of our very own patients returned to her owners because she had her microchip. Read Farrah's story below:

Farrah is a two-year-old spayed female who was miraculously returned to her owners thanks to her microchip....

Farrah had climbed under the hood of her owner's car and rode from the Peak exit on I-26 to St. Andrews.  She then CHANGED CARS to a stranger's vehicle and was driven to downtown Columbia.  Once there, an animal control officer picked her up and took her to a shelter. Through her entire adventure, she only suffered from a small laceration on her back and stress. Animal Control was able to track down the owners and reunite the family with their precious Farrah. Farrah had no collar or tags; she was identified with her microchip!  Farrah is normally very nervous around people, so the likelihood that she would have been adopted, had she not been able to be returned to her family, is almost zero!

The microchip saved Farrah's life!

January 10, 2012 via the State Newspaper:

Dog's microchip helps police find missing girl's home -- Authorities say a microchip implanted in the family dog helped Aiken officers reunite a missing 3-year-old girl with her family.  Investigators told The Aiken Standard that the child was found outside alone with the dog around 4:30p.m. Sunday.  She told officers she took the dog for a walk but couldn't remember her address.  Police walked around nearby apartments but couldn't find the girl's parents.  Then an officer realized the dog had a microchip and was registered with the city.  The girl and the dog were reunited with their family!!

Helpful Links:

PetLink : www.petlink.net

resQ : http://www.petparents.com/show.aspx/products/resq