Microchipping your dog?
 

Hi I'm in Los Angeles already had my dog microchipped by the vet. I used Petlink. Seems all good, but I looked at the list of Microchip "detectors" and they were all other vets and rescues.

I'm thinking the microchip by the local city pound is a different microchip brand. So if they were to drop him off at the pound they would not detect his microchip right?

So would it make sense to also take him to the Pound and get him microchipped with their brand? Also, get him microchipped with all the diff brands just to be on the safe side???

Anyone know about this?

Does your local pound only have one type of reader? Most microchip companies will give free readers to local pounds. I'd call the pound if I were you and inquire.

I would check with your local shelters and rescues groups to see if they would be able to detect your particular chip and if not then which one should you have. Seems like your vet would be using the kind that they have locally but it's best to make sure.

Rescue groups will usually take the time to go to a place that has an all purpose scanner, the pound will not.

Well, since a shelter would be the most likely place a dog would be taken to if it were turned in that is where you would want a chip to be found. In a big place like LA it's hard to know if they have a standardized method of chipping. Checking around would be the best option.

I agree. :)

I wouldn't get him chipped again...most scanners are universal & can read different brand chips. If it's a chip that can't be read, it will still show that the dog or cat is indeed chipped & w/what brand. Then, they will find a scanner that is designed to read that certain chip. This is what my vet technician told me couple years back, don't know if it's changed, so it would be best to call your local shelter & find out what their protocol is.

I don't want to spread any misinformation regarding scanners & microchips, so please disregard my post. Like others have posted, asking the shelters around your area will be the best source of information.

AAHA Healthy Pet | Microchipping
The myth:

Most shelters and veterinarians don’t have microchip readers, so they won’t be able to identify my pet.
The truth:

It’s true that a microchip won’t work to identify your pet unless your pet comes in contact with a microchip reader. There are few shelters and veterinarians in the US today that don’t have readers. (In Canada, almost all the animal control services and veterinarians have readers.) The main microchip manufacturers offer universal microchip readers to humane societies, shelters, and veterinarians for free or for a small fee. Until recently, each brand of microchip could only be read by its own brand of microchip reader. Recently, though, universal readers that read all brands of microchips have been made available to the shelter community. Ask your veterinarian, your nearby humane society or shelter, or the animal control department in your area whether they have microchip readers readily available. If not, encourage them to get the readers. Of course, to be sure your pets will be returned to you, you should identify them with an updated tag and a microchip.

Most vet offices, shelters and rescues use universal scaners, all my dogs are chip with Datamars chips,and registered with petlink, when my son's alaskan malamute decided to take a walk in my town, he was scanned and returned to us withing one hour. petlink called me really fast and we went to the local pound and picked him up..
hugs,