It is National Check your Chip Day, so we thought we'd show you what our Intake team do when we get a stray animal in.
It is National Check your Chip Day, so we thought we'd show you what our Intake team do when we get a stray animal in, to highlight the importance of making sure your details are up to date on your pet's chip!
Did you know? A microchip is not proof of ownership but just of keepership, but it is important in tracing the owner.
When a dog or cat comes in we scan for a chip using a scanner - much like the barcode scanner in a supermarket. If the animal is coming in from a Dog Warden, Vet or RSPCA Inspector, they will have already scanned and we will double check.
The handheld device will beep if it finds a number - sometimes the chip migrates a little away from the scruff of the neck so we check all over - we once found one under a leg!
If there is a chip, we take the number and look it up online to find the owner's details - we have access to around 15 databases in the UK and abroad.
Did you know? If your dog is visiting or emigrating to the UK from abroad, you still have to obey the UK microchip laws.
We'll call within the hour (during open times) as we know that, for dogs, the council stray charges can go up every day and can get quite expensive.
If we don't have any luck with the chip details, then we will put the animals up as 'found' on Pets Reunited and Animal Search UK, and the Dog Warden puts their found dogs on their social media. This will hopefully catch those without up to date details who are looking for their pet.
If after 7 days we cannot find an owner, ownership is signed over to us and we microchip the cat or dog with our details.
As for the spaniel in the video, his microchip was blank - not registered. No owner has come forward, so he has been considered as abandoned and is signed over to us. He will now have an assessment, and any rehabilitation that he needs before going up for adoption.