Cat & Dog Microchipping
An astounding 1-in-3 pets will become lost at some point during their life. Without proper identification, 82% will never return home. Cat and dog microchipping can greatly increase your chances of finding a pet should he or she become lost.
Avoid having your dog or cat among the thousands of unidentified lost strays that end up at The Animal Foundation each year. Our Low-Cost Vet Clinic offers Las Vegas area pet owners affordable cat and dog microchipping.
Cat and dog microchipping services are available at our Low-Cost Vet Clinic during the hours listed in the sidebar.
Starting Aug. 1, 2024, all dogs and cats over the age of four months residing in the City of Las Vegas must have a microchip. The city ordinance was implemented by Ward 5 Councilman Cedric Crear.
SCHEDULE A MICROCHIP APPOINTMENT
Cat and Dog Microchipping
Pet microchips are implanted just beneath the skin and registered with owner information. Chips are read using an electronic scanner. In Las Vegas, Animal Control officers carry pet microchip scanners, so they can identify registered lost dogs and cats immediately, in an effort to keep them out of the animal shelter and get them back to their families immediately.
Dogs and cats are also scanned for pet microchips upon arrival at the Las Vegas animal shelter. If a pet microchip is detected, the animal shelter staff retrieves the owner’s information from the pet microchip manufacturer and attempts to contact the owner.
Pet microchips are the size of a small grain of rice. Implanting a microchip into a dog or cat is easy and involves only a quick injection. It is no more painful than receiving vaccines, and there is no recovery time for your pet.
No. Pet microchips do not allow for the tracking of your dog or cat. When scanned, they provide owner contact information.
Microchips can provide your dog or cat with his or her best opportunity for a happy return home. The Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association showed a return-to-owner rate of 52% for microchipped lost dogs, compared to a rate of just 22% for dogs who enter an animal shelter and are not microchipped. Similar increases were seen for non-microchipped lost cats, whose return-to-owner rate of less than 2% increased to more than 39% for microchipped cats.
Cat and dog microchips ARE NOT effective if the ownership information is not kept current. When your information, such as phone number or home address, changes, please contact your pet microchip company to update your information. Usually updates can be made easily online.
Contact information on the major pet microchip companies is listed below. As of 2016, The Animal Foundation uses Found Animals brand pet microchips (prior to this, we used Save This Life and Home Again brand pet microchips).
- Found Animals
- Save This Life – 855.777.CHIP (877-777-2447)
- Home Again – 888.466.3242
- Avid – 800.336.2843
- AKC Reunite – 800.252.7894
- PetLink – 877.PETLINK (877.738.5465)
Prepare for Your Visit
For the safety of our staff and to maintain efficiency, owners are not permitted in the exam room with their pets during vaccinations.
- All cats must arrive in a cat carrier and all dogs must be on a leash.
- Dogs or cats with any signs of illness or that show aggression may not be able to get microchipped.
- If needed, please bring a muzzle.