Get pets chipped before fireworks
Among the saddest stories in the pet world are those in which a beloved buddy is lost and never found. Cats vanish. Dogs disappear. It happens no matter how high our fences, no matter how hard we search.
I’ve written a few of those stories. There was Tasha, the yellow Labrador retriever who shimmied out of her fenced kennel in the East Mountains.
And Percy, a brown pittie with golden eyes who sneaked out of her yard in Sandia Park.
Both dogs were constant companions of their respective humans since they were puppies.
Both were microchipped — a permanent form of identification about the size of a grain of rice implanted in the animal’s flesh and
required in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County and recommended everywhere.
But both dogs’ microchips had not been updated or had vague information, causing problems in finding the owners.
“We do everything we can to reunite people with their pets,” said Donna Stumpf, executive director of Animal Humane New Mexico. “But it’s so heartbreaking when we find that a pet has a microchip but the person has moved or changed phone numbers.”
We chat about the chips on the cusp between June, which is National Pet Microchip Awareness Month, and July, which is National Aren’t You Glad You Microchipped Your Pet Because Fireworks Scare the Bejeebers Out of Your Pet Month.
I may have made up that last one, but it’s still apt. More dogs and cats escape their homes around the Fourth of July than any other time because the loud pops from fireworks can startle pets and cause them to bolt.
“Every year around that time, our shelters fill up with runaways,” Stumpf said. “It’s really a scary time for pets.”
And when they do end up in shelters, a microchip is the best way to get them home. Of those strays with microchips taken to Animal Humane in the past 12 months, 67 percent were reunited with their humans, while only 17 percent of nonchipped pets were as lucky, according to shelter data.
Sadly, 70 percent of incoming strays are not microchipped, Stumpf said.
“We do recommend that pets also have collars and tags with identification, but there are times when those go missing,” she said.
Chips cost around $20 to $30 to implant but are included in adoption fees at local shelters. This weekend, for example, Animal Humane has reduced the price of adopting cats and dogs six months and older to just $10, and all are microchipped, spayed or neutered and vaccinated.
Shelter workers go to great lengths to use whatever information is stored on a microchip or a tag, Stumpf said. Staff workers call, email, text and write the listed owner. They use online search engines, scan social media, cross-reference missing pets classified ads listed in the Albuquerque Journal — which, by the way, we publish free of charge.
Pets that are chipped are held for seven days while the search goes on before they are freed for adoption; unchipped pets are freed for adoption after three days.
The city and county shelters similarly rely on microchips to return strays to their owners.
You just can’t beat a happy reunion.
“It is one of the most amazing things to see,” said Patrick Fisk, adoption and operations director of Animal Humane New Mexico. “Everybody stops what they’re doing when the owner comes in. We bring out the dog and they see each other from 50 feet away and they recognize each other — there’s not a dry eye in the place.”
As for the dogs I mentioned, Tasha was adopted by a new family but eventually reunited with her human thanks to one of you readers who acted as mediator between the owners. Despite her owner’s pleas, Percy remains with the family that adopted her.
I can’t think of a better reminder about the importance of not only chipping your pet but annually checking that the information is current.
UPDATE ON AN ICON: On June 16, legendary activist Sally-Alice Thompson, 95, began a hunger strike to raise awareness, force U.S. policy changes and empathize with the children starving and suffering in Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Gaza and Yemen.
Her protest — dubbed Fasting Against Sanctions and Siege, or FASS, and publicized in my June 19 column — was lauded but also caused concern among those who knew Thompson, given her advanced age.
Because of what she said is the overwhelming response to her protest, she has agreed to modify her fast on June 22 and is now eating two meals a day. Awareness and change were her goals, and with a little food she’ll be able to keep working toward those ends.
In a news release, she urges folks to fast in whatever form they choose, call Congress and contact her via chng.it/ VhGyFN22.
UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Joline at 823-3603, jkrueger@abqjournal.com or follow her on Twitter @jolinegkg. Go to www.abqjournal.com/ letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.