MICROCHIPS have gone to the dogs — and cats and
horses and birds and rabbits and reptiles.

A company called Infopet
Systems Inc. is changing the way
lost pets are identified and reunited
with their human counterparts,

The operative element of the
pet-finding system is a rice grain-
sized microchip encased in a sheath
of biomedical-grade glass.

The chip holds a 10-digit code
and is injected with a needle into
an animal, such as a dog or a cat.
The chip is implanted just under
the skin on the left-hand side of
the animai’s neck between the ear
and shoulder.

According to Christine Dowling,
western representative for Infopet,
the procedure takes no longer than
the time it takes for a vaccination
shot. Done without anesthetics, the
injection causes momentary
discomfort to the animal. The chip
is good for 25 years.

Since the product was first mar-
keted in the Lower Mainland a
year ago, local SPCA animal
shelters have been provided with
scanners which read off the code
numbers of chip-implanted pets.

Dowling estimates approximate-
ly 600 Lower Mainland pets, most-
ly dogs and mostly from Burnaby
and Richmond, have bought into
the information age with the high-
tech implants.

Once scanned at a shelter, the
alphanumeric code number (one of
34 billion possible) is called in to 2
24-hour, seven-day-a-week toll-free
Toronto phone number.

The code number is then keyed
into the Infopet data base and in-
formation including the name of
the pet, a description of the pet,
dates of vaccinations, medical his-
tory, special diet information and
the name of the clinic where the

ONE TREATMENT

(1 ORIGINAL LASER
THERAPY

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0 HYGIENIC
1 DIET AND WITHDRAWAL
POINTS INCLUDED

O SEPARATE DIET
TREATMENT AVAILABLE

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SPoce-ag
| NORTH SHORE 983-2046
* 1949 Lonsdale Ave., North Yan

Burnaby 420-2155
Surrey 597-1428
Langley 534-6550
Vancouver 266-3760
Vancouver 688-STOP

By MICHAEL B
chip was implanted, is relayed to
the inquiring pound or shelter staff
member.

To date the pet marking method
of choice has been a tatioo. But
said, Dowling, ‘‘A lot of times
when you get a dog in with a tat-
too, it’s usually unreadable and it’s
hard to trace the owner.’’ Dowling
believes a broad acceptance of the
foolproof microchip identification
system will eventually work to save
animal lives. ee

Said Ambleside Animal Hospital
vet Dr. Dudley Richmond:
“Basically the concept sounds
good and should work. A dog tag
on a decent collar is the old stand-
by, but if you lose the collar,
you’re up the creek.’? So far
Richmond has made three
microchip implants at the animal
hospital.

Dowling quotes Canadian fig-
ures showing that an average 2.5
per cent of cats finding their way
into shelters are never retrieved.
Twenty-five per cent are adopted
and the rest are nudged into cat
heaven. Dogs fare somewhat bet-
ter. Twenty-seven per cent are
retrieved by owners, 31 per cent
are adopted and the remaining 42
per cent are put down.

Over 700,000 dogs and cats are
euthanized each year in Canada.

THE INFOPET microchip — when planted into a pet’s neck just under the skin — permarently identifies the

animal.

Stray or abandoned West Van-
couver pets fare considerably bet-
ter at the West Vancouver SPCA.
In 1988, 320 dogs were brought in
as strays. Owners claimed 273 and

See Injacted
Page 45

41 - Wednesday, May 24, 198

Age
fear
groundless

PAGE 42

NEWS photo Mike Vakefield