Romeoville Humane Society President Applauds New Microchip Law

It’s a fear shared by pet owners — a door left ajar, a gate left open and, in one fateful moment, the family dog or cat is on the run, with no easy way to find their way back home.

On Aug. 3, Gov. Pat Quinn signed a measure into law aimed at helping Illinois pet owners reunite with lost pets by requiring shelters and animal control agencies to check diligently for identifying microchips implanted beneath the animals’ skin.

It’s a new law that will benefit pets and the people who love them, said Jill Aikin, president of the Romeoville Humane Society.

“Not only are they going to get the animals home faster, it’s going to save lives,” said Aikin.

The law requires shelters to scan animals at least once within the first 24 hours of intake. If identification information is found, the law requires animal agencies to attempt to contact owners via phone or e-mail. And before an animal is moved to another location, adopted by a new owner or euthanized, a second scan must be performed.

The new law passed the General Assembly unanimously and takes effect Jan. 1, 2012.

Aikin said microchips are a safe, inexpensive way to permanently “tag” animals.

“They work well,” she said, adding that the Romeoville Humane Society has reunited several pet owners with their pets after successfully scanning microchip information.

Recently, she said, the humane society took in 11 dogs rescued from a Bolingbrook puppy mill, where they were mistreated. Two of the dogs found there had been microchipped.

“We were able to reunite the bulldog with the original owner,” she said.

Aikin said owners’ names, addresses, phone numbers and emergency contact information corresponds to the identifier etched into each microchip. A single chip is implanted in each animal through a quick injection.

“It about looks like a grain of rice,” said Aikin. “It’s implanted between the shoulder blades in the back of the neck.”

Sometimes, Aikin said, the chip will move slightly. In the case of the English bulldog, she said, a microchip was found behind her ear.

When pet owners relocate, she said, contact information stored in pet agencies’ databases that correspond with microchip identifiers can be updated, she said.

Aikin said several different manufacturers make animal microchips. Some chip scanners will react only to certain types of chips, she said.

“At the humane society, we have a universal scanner,” she said, adding that animal control and shelter agencies using those types of scanners will be able to detect any brand of microchip.

Aikin said the Romeoville Humane Society routinely scans animals for microchips.

“Upon intake, we double scan them to make sure they don’t have a chip,” she said. “We chip them as soon as we take them in.”

Aikin said the humane society often offers microchip clinics at their fundraising events, offering the service for a charge of $15.

“We are always preaching about that,” she said.