Chip for domestic animals

When a person buys costly dogs like Labrador, German Shepherd, Pomeranian etc., his prime worry is safety of his pets. Up-to-date, there was no solution.

But now there is a solution. Enter the microchip, a tiny transponder the size of a grain of uncooked rice. This is a permanent radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip implanted under the dog's skin and read by a chip scanner or wand. Implantation is done with an injector that places the chip under the loose skin over the dog's shoulder.

Owners of purebred show and breeding dogs have long used tattoos to comply with the rules of identification of the American Kennel Club and to provide permanent, visible identification should their dogs get lost. Many pet owners also tattoo their dogs to prevent loss. But tattoos have a drawback as well; although they cannot get separated from the dog as tags can, they can be hard to find and read if the dog is frightened, aggressive or has a heavy hair coat, so few shelters make the effort.

But in case of microchip transplantation, the advantages are — the process is rapid and no more painful than a vaccination, the chip can't get lost, the number is unique, the dog doesn't have to be wrestled to the ground and shaved to see if it's there, and the owners name and address are available on regional or national data bases so a dog can be returned quickly and easily and safely.

The chip identification number is stored in a tiny transponder that can be read through the dog's skin by a scanner emitting low-frequency radio waves. The frequency is picked up by a minute antenna in the transponder, and the number is retrieved, decoded, and displayed in the scanner readout window. The radio waves use a frequency much lower than AM broadcast stations use.

The chip, aerial, and capacitor are encased in a tiny glass tube. The tube is composed of soda lime glass, which is known for compatibility with living tissue. The glass is hermetically sealed to keep moisture out.

Two companies, Schering-Plough Animal Health and AVID, share the bulk of the business of pet identification by microchip.

A few chips may move out of place and can't be found by the scanner, the problem is addressed with a polypropylene shell on the tip of its transponder. This coating bonds the transponder to the dog's subcutaneous tissue.