Do you remember Coco the dog that went missing from Alden, NY and was caught 9 months later in Rochester, NY - almost 60 miles away? Coco had been microchipped at the shelter prior to her escape. After Animal Services of Rochester caught Coco, they scanned her and found the microchip with the unique id number which was then traced back to the Marilla shelter. Without the microchip, Coco would never have been reunited with her family. Below is a map of Coco’s journey between May 2008 and February 2009. Dogs can run far and wide and without the proper identification, they can't tell us where home is.

MICROCHIPPING FOR DOGS AND CATS

Volunteers For Animals is now offering microchipping to the public. The cost of the microchipping is $30 per animal which includes the injection, a collar id tag and national registration with AVID. Each dog or cat must be accompanied by someone who can control it. Cats MUST be in carriers. Please bring the name of your vet and an alternate contact person (name, address and number) for registration purposes. Accepted payment is either cash or checks (made out to Volunteers For Animals), sorry no credit cards. No preregistration necessary.

Sundays for 1 pm to 3 pm At The Shelter
We now have several volunteers trained to microchip. We can provide microchipping at the time of adoption if there is a trained volunteer available. Or you can bring your dog or cat into the Shelter on Sundays during adoption hours for microchipping. Or drop us an email to make other arrangements: vol4animals@yahoo.com

What is a microchip?

The microchip is a tiny computer chip which has an identification number programmed into it and is encapsulated within a biocompatible material. The whole device is small enough to fit inside a hypodermic needle and can be simply injected under the skin of our pets, where it will stay for the life of the animal. This provides a permanent, positive identification which cannot be lost, altered or intentionally removed - a safe, simple and inexpensive way to protect your pet against loss or theft.

The computer memory in the microchip contains a unique number - no two animals will ever have the same number. A radio signal is used to read this number through the skin of your pet. It is routine for animal shelters and veterinarian offices to scan pets for microchips.

For more detailed information on AVID ID Microchips, go to http://www.avidid.com/faq/index.html

Chevy was a stray cat that came into the Shelter from Summit St. in Batavia. She had been on her own throughout the winter. She had a BB lodged in her side and patches of fur missing, most likely from a car engine fan. She was posted for adoption on our website and within days her family spotted her on the website. They came into the Shelter and sure enough it was her. They lived a block away on Tracy Ave. Chevy had bolted from the house in the fall. They were lucky in many ways: the nice person on Summit took her to the vet for her care and brought her to the Shelter and they spotted her on the website. Had Chevy been microchipped we could have found her family more quickly without risk of her being adopted by someone else. Even house cats need to be microchipped!

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