This is not meant to be negative or positive- just passing along information.

If you live in the city of San Antonio apparently they just passed an ordinance (last fall, went into effect Jan 01, 2008) that requires you to microchip any dog or cat over 4 months old. I just learned this from the priest at a church I sing at.

I think he wasn't positive about the new ruling, but I'm not sure whether it was because of the microchips themselves, or because of the politics behind the new ordinance. Didn't get a chance to discuss it with him at length.

Anyway- information passed on.

Best regards to all~

p.s. I also found out by calling around that Animal Care services here holds monthly clinics for micro-chipping and other things they consider basic care. A chip is $7, although you have to wait in line... (apparently they will also come to your car and do this if you ask; I wasn't crazy about mixing my dogs with a bunch of others, and the woman on the phone recommended this path.) Mods- hope its ok to post this last part.

Edited by Carolyn Pike Roman (05/08/2008 02:27 PM)
Edit reason: more info

$7 ????????

holy cow, at our clinics(which means the cheapest) it's at least 30 per animal.

yea- I called the vet first ($50), the humane society ($27), a private mobile clinic ($25), and then the city "animal care services" ($7). The last they only do once per month for 2 hrs... I guess you go and hope that they have time for you. The person I spoke with said they routinely stay late to try and get everyone in though- they were very helpful.

I understand the city also wants you to pay some sort of annual registration or something if the animal is not spayed/neutered- there's an age limit but I don't remember. Both of my dogs are from a rescue so they 'came that way', lol. Still- I wish they had publicized these new ordinances better.

Very interesting. I imagine it'll be coming soon here as well since I know various rescue groups are pushing for it.

Depending on who the chip is through would be a major selling point for me as I'd gladly pay more for chips in certain registries. I prefer CAR mainly due to chip size and that they don't charge you an arm and a leg to update information unlike the other systems. They also somewhere along the line figured out that indeed a record can be updated online unlike AVID or Homeagain.

http://www.24petwatch.com registers chips online. There is no charge.

Melissa, how does the CAR chip compare to the AVID chip?

It's a slightly smaller harpoon for your dog which for most larger dogs doesn't matter but a squirming 1 lb toy puppy it's a world of difference. Cost usually works out to about $15 a chip to start with plus the cost of the scanner and for me I'll have new owners pay for enrollment at the same time as AKC reg for the break in cost there as well.

Car doesn't charge beyond initial enrollment, is a non profit, doesn't charge for updating data which can be done online, and are available 24/7 for any changes.

Here is their order info. http://www.akccar.org/pdf/microchip/Microchip_Order_Form.pdf

From what I read, you also can register any other type of chip with the CAR database, for a one time enrollment fee. (AVID or Home Again types) You can also register any kind of chip with the AVID database, called PETtrac, for a 1 time fee.

The Home Again database service charges a yearly enrollment fee to keep your info active. The advantage is that they give their scanners to the vets and shelters that sell their microchips, so it's a more widespread system. (I'm guessing that the Home Again chip is the one that most vets sell)

Apparently now most vets/shelters have the universal scanner, which reads all chips. But, the HomeAgain scanner reads a chip from 10-16 digits, and some of the AVID chips are only 9 digits.

If you are getting the AVID chip, ask for a universal chip that has 10 digits...

Sorry if this post is rambling! I'm going to get Chula chipped soon, and I was trying to figure out the best chip to get. If my vet can get the AVID universal chip, that's the one I'll get, and I'll register it w/ CAR and PETtrac.

Seems like a rip-off that Home Again has a yearly enrollment fee when there are several other options out there that just charge a 1 time fee...

I found this overview of microchips, there is a chart near the bottom of the page that gives a list of scanners and which chips they will read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microchip_implant_(animal)

Some random comments about chips and scanners:

Bayer introduced the first truly universal scanner (along with a chip) a year or so ago:

http://resq.petparents.com/

My understanding is that it reads everything, which made it very attractive to vets and shelters.

HomeAgain, at roughly the same time, began pushing its Advanced Pet Recovery System. If your lost pet is found anywhere, the database will help him get back home via email alerts, etc...

Problem is, in order for this to work your vet has to agree to have HomeAgain software installed (or some such thing) on the hospital server. Security and privacy issues (real or imagined) put a number of hospital owners I know off this. So whatever HomeAgain says about an enhanced network if your vet isn't playing ball, you're not getting anything special.

If the Pet Recovery System is important to you make sure you ask your vet if he's participating.

With Avid chips, I've heard the complaint that they have a tendency to migrate to other parts of the body.

I use AVID, I think chip migration is rare, and if it moves it probably isn't going to travel far. I have heard of one that was about 4 inches down the front shoulder away from the insertion site.
Anyone scanning a dog should do a pretty large area anyway.