Micro-Chip? Not what I thought?!?

[Anonymous]

I found a dog recently and took her to the nearest vet (not my regular but in neighborhood) to check for the chip. I was surprised that after telling the vet I found the dog that the vet asked if I wanted to look for the chip and then asked asked if I wanted them to contact the place of registration.

I will keep the dog if there is no owner or they don't want her which is why I didn't turn her over to the city (I know I wouldn't get her back if she is not claimed). I didn't expect that the vet would give me the option not to return a pet that I have clearly stated is lost. I guess I expected that a vet would take an oath to encourage reunification. I don't feel my dog is as safe as I thought before with the chip?

I hope this vet experience was just a bad one. My IPhone has better recovery than the dog!

[Anonymous]

I think this is a vet issues, not a microchip one.

[Anonymous]

I think from the vet's perspective you are admirably taking responsibility for a stray and s/he is letting you call the shots rather than telling you what you should do. The vet is helping you rather than taking over. Nothing in your post indicates to me that the vet was facilitating you keeping a dog that is owned by someone else. In my experience vets just ask the responsible party before they perform any procedure (check for chip) or call any shots (contact the chip registration #).

[Anonymous]

I think it's reasonable for vets to do this. When you come in with a dog, they treat you as the temporary owner of the dog. If they had to take the role of enforcer of microchip/ownership, then they would have some obligation to take the dog or hold the dog. But they don't want to play that role or suddenly they become a temporary shelter.

I had two instances of finding a lost dog where the information on the chip was either outdated or the owner didn't want the dog back. In that scenario, I had to hold on to the dog for a few days to, in the first case, track down the owner by contacting the rescue group that put in the chip and, in the second case, arranging to take the dog to a shelter.

If a vet were to treat the dog as NOT yours and compel you to search for the owner, they would have no legal basis to expect you to take the dog home with you until the owner could be located.

And again, they don't want to become a shelter and/or drop off, because there is always the possibility the owner will not be located or will not take the dog, and then they'd have to figure out what to do with it.

They actually only scan for a microchip for free as a courtesy. They have no legal obligation to do that for free. That equipment costs money.

If you took the animal to a local pound or a shelter, they might react differently.

[Anonymous]

OP here - Points well taken. I just imagined that I would be frantic looking for my dog and I just assumed that the micro chip would make it impossible for anyone else to claim my dog if they took him to a vet.

I still would like to implant the IPHONE App in the DOG!!

[Anonymous]

I think this is an issue of semantics. You went to the vet, it is up to you to state your wants and wishes. The vet is not telling you that he/she has no wish to see this dog reunited with its (imagined) frantic owner.

A dog, under the law, is property, as much as we see it as a beloved member of the family.

Please don't discourage people from microchipping.

[Anonymous]

You could take the dog to the pound where they would check and you could just leave with the dog if he didn't have one.

[Anonymous]

OP Here- FWIW The dogs owner called yesterday. She had been stolen last October and she was very happy that I had the her checked for the chip!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could take the dog to the pound where they would check and you could just leave with the dog if he didn't have one.

Not true. I have taken a dog to the pound and once you walk in and declare that the dog is not yours it becomes the property of the pound and you have to now adhere to all the rules and regulations of the pound.

[Anonymous]

Our vet checks for a chip for every dog not registered in their system

Our neighbors dog was stolen from their back yard and 3 weeks later the thief took the dog to the vet. The vet checked for the chip and realized the dog was stolen, called the police and contacted the owner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP Here- FWIW The dogs owner called yesterday. She had been stolen last October and she was very happy that I had the her checked for the chip!!

That's wonderful. As a loving dog owner I thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our vet checks for a chip for every dog not registered in their system

Our neighbors dog was stolen from their back yard and 3 weeks later the thief took the dog to the vet. The vet checked for the chip and realized the dog was stolen, called the police and contacted the owner.

This is somewhat how I thought it worked. Although I would bet the person who brought the dog to the vet was not the thief but the recipient of a stolen pet.

[Anonymous]

I agree...it is a little weird for a vet to do this.

I think it is most ideal to reunite the dog w/his original owner if possible. There might be someone out there grieving for this poor animal. If it were my dog, I would want a vet to encourage whomever found him to try to find his rightful owner.