I am a big supporter of microchipping pets. This is from Dec. 2007 in the first blog entry I wrote about the topic:

“Imagine being lost, far from home, no familiar sights or faces. Worst of all, you have no identification on you, and you can’t communicate with anyone, even the people trying to help you. All you want to do is go home, but you end up in a cage, with little hope to see your family again.

That happens to millions of pets each year. One in three pets will be lost at one time in their lives, and only 30 percent of dogs and less than 5 percent of cats will be reunited with their owners. The best way to make sure your pet can find his or her way home is with a microchip.”

Last week I wrote an entry about a three-legged pooch who, as of this morning, is still at the Regional Center for Animal Control and Protection.  The dog is intact (meaning he still has his family jewels, for those who thought I was confused about the number of limbs he has)  and he did not have a microchip, so there is no way for RCACP to contact his still-unknown owners.

Yesterday, blog reader Rita Ross made a terrific suggestion in a comment on that entry — add that your pet is chipped to his or her collar tag.

I know, you might be asking, “But if the pet still has a collar, why not just put your phone number and address on the tag, then anyone can bring the pet back to you?”

Fair enough. But the way I look at it, anything that let’s an animal control officer know that the pet is a pet and not a stray and — and cared for by a responsible person — and gets your pet back home quickly is a really good thing.  And I know some folks are a little wary of putting too much personal information on a tag.  That’s clearly not me, because we have collars for our dogs with our phone number embroidered into the fabric.

When it comes to getting your pet returned home safely and quickly, the more information, the better.