Checking strays for chips

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Inthemud

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Hi,

I was reading a dog magazine over the holiday (no time for that usually!) and saw a horrid statistic about the low rate of strays that were returned to their owners.

Is that due to many not being chipped/ having Id on them etc.? I've always assumed that any rescue/ council pound etc. would check for a chip as a matter of course but then got myself worried (have sight hound, vast acres of national park, puppy level recall...) that this might not be the case.

What are your experiences?
 
I would like to think that checking for a chip would be very thorough, not just a sweep over the neck/shoulder. I ID check for some of our events (if the dog's ID doesn't tally to the number in its' papers, then it cannot enter/qualify depending on when the check is done, before or after it has competed) I've found chips in chests, forearms, the chest, the ribcage, my own dog's is up his neck near his ear.

For dogs who don't register on the scanner and who's owners swear blind they have been chipped, we have changed the battery in the scanner, used another scanner, spent ages looking.

There are three times that spring to mind, one dog was not allowed to enter because one digit was out on the paperwork, one was nowhere to be found and was not allowed to enter (has since been re-done) and one could not be found anywhere so we took her entry via ear tattoo, which luckily she had done (which is another good reason to use a belt and braces approach to identification!!) we must have spent 20 minutes looking for the chip and three different scanners.
 
i found a stray german shepard a fews years ago now, just turned up at my place of work, middle of an industrial estate!! So being the softy that i am took him home, introduced him to my other dogs and fitted in exceptionally well. 1 of my friends made me feel guilty about not having him checked for chip, so the next day took him to vets scanned him no chip was found, but obviously now the vets had to inform the council dog warden and they collected him from the vets even though i was happy to have him. The dog was then transferred to kennels where he had to stay for 7days incase his owner contacted the council.. So of course i rang the kennels everyday to see if he had been collected, then on the 10th day i went to collect him and i had to pay £70 to the kennels for his release fee!!! Cash only no details were taken and when i went to collect him i was told " i hope you can pick him out, we have lots of these dogs in at the moment". Hence is it worth checking for the chip if you are happy to keep the dog.. He has turned out to be a loyal friend and an important part of our family and i still cannot understand why he was a stray..
 
It's normally done in baby pups before they go to their new homes but it can also done on the thigh/upper arm AFAIK.
This site should point you to a tattoo person in your area.

http://www.dog-register.co.uk/

GSD breeders were very heavy users of the tattoo system so if you find a stray one you should also have a peep in the ear as well as check for a chip. My last couple of dogs had both a chip and a tattoo.
 
Mum's was chipped but never got scanned or never showed up. It was only when she put an advert in the paper the person who had found her contacted mum. The person had been to the police station with her and they had no record of her ever being there.
 
BC, the tattooist for this area is no longer doing it, so the nearest to us now is Stockport in cheshire (Evie's breeder :)) or Solihull. I had an adult done when the scheme came in, tbh she did get a bit stressed, its certainly preferable/easier to do it on pups.
 
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