All pets born from the 1st July 2020 must be accompanied with a source number to be microchipped in Victoria.
Microchip - Reunite for life. Many lost pets are never returned to their owners because they do not have any form of identification. Microchips are a way of permanently identifying your pet for life.
A microchip is a tiny electronic device about the size of a grain of rice that uses radio waves to transmit stored information when it is read by the right scanner. Microchips store a unique identification number and do not wear out. They are made of a material that is compatible with body tissue so rejection at the site is unheard of.
Microchips come preloaded in a sterile syringe and are implanted just under the pet’s skin between the shoulder blades. The entire procedure is like a regular injection, it is very quick and does not require pain medication or anaesthetic. Microchips can be implanted in a quick, simple procedure in a consultation for the lifelong security of having your pet returned. After injection the microchip becomes encased in the tissue at the injection site. It may move slightly but usually stays at or near the site where it was injected.
When a lost or injured pet is taken to a clinic or shelter he/she will be scanned for the presence of a microchip. If the pet has a chip the scanner reads the pet’s identification number. If the chip has been properly registered and the personal details of the owner are up to date the clinic can access the registry database and immediately contact the owners for the quick return of their pet.
Through our own computer system we also store microchip numbers on patients histories so that if our own patients come in to the clinic as strays we can quickly contact the family. This happens on a regular basis with bad weather when animals are scared and escape or a new animal to the family finds a way out of their backyard.
When changing address or contact phone numbers remember to update your details with the central registry so that your animal can be reunited with you quickly. If your animal has been microchipped before you took ownership update the contact details and please advise our clinic of the microchip number for further security. We currently use AAR (Australian Animal Registry) to register all microchips that we insert.
