Microchipping

Each year numerous pets go missing from the communities of Jacksonville, Maysville, and Camp Lejeune, and many of them never make it back home to their owners. Animal Hospital of Onslow County wants to help you keep track of your pets and make it easier to find them should you ever get separated. Many lost pets are never returned to their owners because collars and tags can unexpectedly fall off or become damaged or unreadable. If your pet is microchipped, you don’t have to worry about faulty tags or collars because microchipping is a way to provide permanent identification for your four-legged friend that is completely reliable.

A microchip is a safe, simple form of identification that can significantly increase the chance that your lost pet will be returned to you. A microchip is about the size and shape of a grain of rice. It is implanted beneath your pet's skin between the shoulder blades in a process similar to a vaccination. The procedure takes only a few minutes and can be completed during any visit to Animal Hospital of Onslow County.

Each microchip has its own unique registration number that is linked to your pet’s vital information including your name, address, and contact information. Once you have your pet microchipped, you will be instructed how to complete the registration process. Registering the number on the microchip includes your pet in a national pet recovery database.

Veterinary hospitals, animal shelters, and animal control facilities across the country are equipped with scanners that can detect the microchip and read the identification number. When a stray pet is brought to one of these offices, it will be scanned for a microchip. Upon discovery of a microchip, a call to the pet recovery database will alert the microchip company that a lost pet has been identified. The pet owner can then be contacted and reunited with his or her pet.

Whether your pet is young or adult, an inside pet or outside pet, get your pet microchipped today and give yourself peace of mind knowing that your pet is permanently linked with you.