Microchip ID For Pets Safe But Not Foolproof
Without a doubt, microchips provide the most reliable and most secure
method of identifying your pet. But, with the never-ending controversy
over different types of microchips, can you really rely on this
"high-tech" ID tag?
Sept 16, 2007--Sanford FL
Pet owners have been hearing news reports about microchips being
associated with cancer in laboratory rodents and are starting to ask
questions. Essentially, microchips are computer chips about the size
of a grain of rice. Easily implanted under your pet's skin by a
hypodermic needle, microchips provide permanent identification that
won't wear out, fade, or get lost if the pet runs away. Special
scanners find the microchip and can translate into a specific ID code.
These unique numbers can then be found on a database and the owners
can be contacted and the family will be together again.
The scientific papers that reported the rodent tumors are not new; Dr.
Linda Lord at Ohio State University has stated "There is no evidence
to suggest that companion animals implanted with a microchip are at a
higher risk for developing a tumor. The mice used in the studies
where an association between a microchip and development of a tumor
occurred were genetically predisposed to cancer and do not represent
the genetic diversity we see in our dogs and cats." Dr. Lord went on
to explain that in the United Kingdom where over half of the dog
population has a microchip, the British Small Animal Veterinary
Association has established a formal system for the reporting of
adverse events related to microchips, including tumors. "In ten years
of collecting data, only 2 tumors were reported to their adverse event
registry" Dr. Lord said.
Candy and Tony Abercrombie trusted that they had done a good thing to
protect their pets. Every one of their four dogs had a microchip
implanted so that they could be easily identified if they were ever
lost or stolen. But, what happened one day when two of their dogs,
Romie and Max, ran away? Little did they know that both dogs could
have been lost forever. What went wrong? How did a safe, secure, and
"fool-proof" pet ID fail these pet owners?
The first issue that nearly cost Romie her life was the fact that
there are multiple chips being marketed today with at least four
different types of frequencies. Over the last 17 years, the
predominant frequency in the United States has been the 125 kHz
frequency. Romie had a different chip, one that emits a frequency of
134.2 kHz, otherwise known as an ISO chip. The local animal shelter
was using a scanner designed for 125 kHz chips and actually missed
Romie's chip!
Luckily, a shelter employee recognized Romie and was able to contact
Candy promptly. This confusion of frequencies has caused a storm of
controversy. According to Dr. Dan Knox of the AVID Company, a U.S.
microchip pioneer, these multiple frequencies will continue to put
pets at risk by confusing the system. "There are more than 100,000
scanners capable of identifying chips at 125 kHz in shelters
currently. Adding new frequencies will only cause more work for
under-staffed shelters and will potentially be dangerous to pets."
Dr. Knox's concern was validated in 2004 when a young dog was
euthanized after a Virginia shelter failed to find a microchip. The
dog had been implanted with the ISO standard chip and the shelter
could not read this chip.
With the exception of the United States, the rest of the world has
been using the ISO chip for identification. Recently, 2 major
veterinary pharmaceutical companies have teamed up with microchip
manufacturers to create a stronger support system for the ISO chip by
handing out more than 60,000 new scanners that are capable of reading
all four frequencies in use. Julie Lux of HomeAgain Pet Recovery says
that "our first focus is to protect the pet. We want to make the job
of the veterinarian, the shelter worker, or pet rescuer easier so that
more pets make it home."
But the mixed up frequencies are not the only real problem with this
high tech system. Remember Max? Max almost didn't make it home despite
the shelter finding his chip. Max had never been registered into a
database. When the shelter scanned his chip, the ID code told them
that this particular chip had been sold to a particular veterinary
hospital. When contacted, the veterinarian had kept proper records of
all chips implanted and they were able to send Max home. Not exactly
how this "high-tech" lost and found system is designed to work!
This second major issue then is that many pets are not properly
registered. In fact, Michael Gendreau, product manager for the ResQ(r)
ISO chip manufactured by the Bayer Company states that less than half
of microchipped pets have been entered accurately into any database –
a major fault with this system. Ms Lutz agrees and adds "15% of
Americans move every year. With everything that happens in a move, how
many people will remember to change the address and phone number for
their pet's microchip?"
All of the microchip manufacturers agree that veterinarians and
shelters must be strongly proactive in finding ways of getting the
information into an easily accessible national database, something
that is not currently available. Unfortunately, it appears that many
of the registration websites are complicated and not very user
friendly. Pet owners have reported failure to receive confirmation of
registration and have even had trouble inputting any other
information, such as rabies tag numbers. Some of the marketing has
gotten so out of hand that the AVMA is debating a resolution to help
curb problems. According to Ralph Johnson, Executive Director of the
Colorado Veterinary Medical Association, "Pet recovery databases
should be used solely for the purpose of bringing pets home and not
for medical records access or marketing purposes."
These problems are obviously overwhelming to pet owners. Permanent
identification is important because it prepares us for the
unthinkable. No one plans to have a house fire, a spooked cat, a pet
lost while traveling, or a Hurricane Katrina. Old fashioned methods,
such as ID collars should be used along with the microchip until
issues can be resolved – hopefully sooner rather than later. Before
you get your pet microchipped talk to your veterinarian about the
frequency being used. At the Seminole Animal Hospital we recommend a
125 kHz microchip. After your pet is microchipped be sure to register
your pets chip number.
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Dr. Wes Borgman is the veterinarian and owner of the Seminole Animal
Hospital in Sanford. He can be reached at: