Pet flipping is a new trend where people are stealing dogs and selling them on the internet or using them for breeding purposes. Unfortunately, this has been reported around the country from pet owners and law enforcement officials. You can protect your pet from this horrible ordeal by micro-chipping your pet and making sure your on-line contact information is correct. Also, if you purchase a pet online I recommend taking the pet to your veterinarian or an animal shelter to have it scanned for a microchip. The chip should be registered with the vendor. If it’s registered with someone else, then it could be a stray pet or fraud.
Veterinarians in Markham recommend every pet gets a microchip, even “indoors only” animals, because the indoor pets are more likely to get lost when they escape.
74% – Number of micro-chipped animals returned home
13% – Number of not micro-chipped pets returned to their owners.
There are a few important facts to understand about microchips. Microchips are small electronic implants that store a unique digital number. A microchip is not a GPS or a radio-tracking device. Currently, microchips do not store your contact information. The microchip is just a number which is then used to trace back to you. You MUST register your microchip and keep the contact information up to date! If you move, please make sure you update the microchip database. You can do this online or by phone.
Unfortunately there are different suppliers of microchips and different databases. Fortunately there is the Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool www.petmicrochiplookup.org to make it easier for veterinarians and pet owners to search the registries of most microchip manufacturers.
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Sincerely,
Dr. Ernst Marsig, veterinarian in Markham
Practicing Veterinary Medicine in Markham for a Long and Happy Life of ALL Your Pets.
Animal Hospital of Unionville, a veterinary clinic on the north side of Hwy 7, serving all pets in Markham, Richmond Hill, Scarborough, Stouffville, and North York since 1966. We are your family vets for dogs, cats, pocket pets (rabbits, chinchillas, gerbils, mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, skinny pigs, etc.), ferrets, and birds (budgies, cockatiel, parrots, amazon, cockatoo, love birds, conures, African greys, finches, canaries, etc.).
Disclaimer: No part of this website constitutes medical advice. Readers are advised to consult with their veterinarian.
