Over the past 6 years, RescueGroups.org has surveyed our users concerning their experiences with microchips and their microchip suppliers.
Initially, the community seemed happy with their vendors and suppliers. Comparing the survey results of the most well-known rescue/shelter microchip and animal management program, 93% of the survey respondents had a positive experience with that vendor in 2007.
However, in our survey earlier this year, only 26% of respondents were having a positive experience, and many were very unhappy.
The Problem
The issues experienced by our users have included:
- No “fail-back” registration to the rescue/shelter (in case the adopter doesn’t register the chip)
- Requirement to sell poorly rated services (ex., the vendor’s pet health insurance)
- Solicitation of other services (ex., pet health insurance) without an opt-out
- Selling of the registration database to 3rd parties without an opt-out
- Low post-adoption registration rates by the adopter
- Yearly microchip “maintenance” fees and the solicitation of those fees
- Threats regarding not paying the fees (“your pet won’t be reunited with you if you don’t pay the fee”)
Interestingly, almost all of the issues are related to the microchip vendor’s profit making strategies. We believe that making a profit is not in-and-of-itself bad, however the issue is how you make that profit, and how you return the favor to the community.
Not surprisingly, almost all respondents to our most recent survey are looking for an alternative to their current microchip vendor and software.
The Solution
We believe that RescueGroups.org is capable of providing alternatives for the animal rescue and shelter community.
RescueGroups.org is interested in partnering with microchip vendors and suppliers, as well as microchip registries. Our partnerships will be non-exclusive, and we will not receive any fees or commissions from these partnerships (we don't do financial sponsorships or "seal of approval" gimmicks). We plan to integrate with multiple companies to provide the best options to the community.
The goal is to provide a community-focused solution to microchip management; specifically, a solution to microchip registration that helps you work more effectively.
However, we’re not looking to partner with just anyone. They will need to meet some significant requirements, including:
- Pre-register all chips to the rescue/shelter from the factory
- No maintenance or registration fees beyond the initial cost of the microchip paid by the rescue/shelter
- Provide an opt-out for any solicitation
- Provide an opt-out if they sell the chip registration database
- Promote the ISO standard chip – preferably sell the ISO chip exclusively
We believe that the partnerships we build using these standards will be aligned with Our Strategy. They will be focused on the rescue/shelter, they will be professional and ethical, and they will help the community to work more effectively.
If you’d like more information about partnering with us, or if you have any questions about the microchip vendor requirements or Our Strategy, please contact us.
We'd love to hear from you! Contact us via Support, or post a reply below!
By Julie February 28, 2013 - 6:06 PM
This would be wonderful! I hope it can be achieved!
By Chance White March 1, 2013 - 1:42 PM
We are the FUTURE in microchips and recovery software. You MUST watch this video it will change the history of microchipping and recovery of lost pets FOREVER!!!
http://youtu.be/Nr2JZp3K6bs
We currently are working with the UNITED STATES ARMY Veterinary Treatment Facilities all over the WORLD !!!
http://www.SaveThisLife.com The Future in Protective Pet Identification
855-777-CHIP ask for Chance
By Chance White March 1, 2013 - 2:19 PM
Also, we only sell ISO 134.2 kHz microchips. We have never sold anything else.
By Debra Long March 4, 2013 - 4:38 PM
I went to the savethislife.com website, and cannot find where they sell microchips, only sell the registration of an existing microchip. I also tried to sign up for the Mike Arms Microchip Movement, filled out all the info, click send then it goes to a password page and you cannot continue??? Are they selling microchips or just registration???
By Addy Dawes March 4, 2013 - 8:16 PM
They’ll call you… the submit button does send them your info. I did it twice because I hit the password screen and thought I must have done it wrong. However, I’m not sure I like all the cloak and dagger. It makes me cautious. I haven’t called them back yet as I just don’t have the time during a work day (I do have a full time paying job as well as a full time rescue unpaid job!). Their costs should be more accessible before we get to discussing in person with a rep.
By Jim February 28, 2013 - 6:52 PM
We are very actively looking for a microchip company that will allow us to register our rescue as the main contact, and the adopter as the secondary contact, so we will be notified if one of our dogs is lost. Most, but not all, of the microchip companies will not allow this. I am hoping that Rescue Groups is able to find one or more microchip suppliers that are willing to truly help rescues for the long term.
By Richard Saffell February 28, 2013 - 7:12 PM
Jim, do you mean they would contact both the rescue/shelter and the registrant, or only the rescue/shelter? I’m not sure any of the registries are able to guarantee that two contacts would be made.
By Dianne February 28, 2013 - 7:16 PM
Even if they only contacted the rescue if the owner did not respond it would be a help. Many give out the owners name and contact when an animal is found. Why not just give out two. It is handled by telephone operators that respond to lost dog calls. It should be easy enough to give both contacts to the caller.
By Richard Saffell February 28, 2013 - 7:19 PM
Dianne, this is a good point. We’ll keep this in mind when we’re talking to prospective registries. I think you’re right — they should be able to display the registrant and the rescue/shelter, but there’s no guarantee that the finder would call both contacts, right?
By Jim February 28, 2013 - 7:19 PM
Avid allows a rescue to register each chip under the rescue organization’s name, and then use the adopter as a 2nd (emergency) contact. This would also have the rescue as the “owner” of the animal (in the eyes of a shelter), and allow the rescue to retrieve the dog from a shelter, if it chose to. i.e. if a dog continuously got out of an adopter’s yard, the rescue could pick up the dog directly from the shelter and (perhaps) not return the dog to the adopter until the fence was repaired.
By Judy Babcock February 28, 2013 - 7:51 PM
We use Avid chips and register the dog under our rescue name and contact information. We register the adopter as the alternate and make it clear on our adoption contract that they need to let us know if they have a change in contact information. However, we found that the City of Abluquerque was able to over ride that when they were using Avid chips. They had a direct line to update information when people came in to license their pets. Our safety net was eliminated. The adopters information was input but none of our information was kept. And there is no way to know how may of our rescues information is no longer including us as backup. We have personal referrences, vet refernces and work contact information so we can find the owner when one of our dogs is found. Other organizations allow people to register chip numbers as a service. However, someone could “find”a dog and register it under their name. Very confusing and could easily allow someone to claim a found dog as their own.
By Jim February 28, 2013 - 8:05 PM
This is an interesting comment regarding the changing of Avid contact information. We have been under the impression that they only allow changes via their forms, which must be signed and mailed to them. They do not have an online registry that I am aware of, unless they started it within the past 4-6 months.
By ResQ Animal Coalition February 28, 2013 - 8:18 PM
We are going to use found foundanimals.org – they register our rescue as the main contact and the adopter as the secondary. Not sure about the opt out options, but the chips are reasonably priced. We’ve used a company in the past called Smart Tag (www.idtag.com) and when a dog was turned into the shelter and the shelter called to have them look up the chip, they said the chip wasn’t registered at their company. Thank God we were also registered as a contact and the shelter was able to contact our rescue; needless to say we won’t be using them anymore.
By Tom March 1, 2013 - 4:35 PM
I work with SmartTag and we have not had this issue before. We make each group the permanent secondary contact before we ship each box of microchips out, to ensure that is we can’t reach the owner that we contact the group that placed the dog or cat. Unfortunately when this occurred it was right around the time Hurricane Sandy hit our NJ office and area. We were out of power for over 1 week so that might have had something to do with this, luckily we have a backup call center in FL that handled all urgent issues. We strive to do the best we can in all lost and found pet situations. We are the lowest priced microchip with a lifetime registration at $7.50 each, and we include a metal ID tag as well. We look forward to trying to win back ResQ Animal Coalition someday but understand their concern.
By ResQ Animal Coalition March 1, 2013 - 4:53 PM
Just wanted to let everyone know that the director of Smart Tag has replied to my post about their company. I had no idea at the time that Hurricane Sandy had devastated their offices and homes and this was the issue as to why the person who answered the phone said that our dogs’ chips were not located in their database but actually were. So I officially retract my statement that Smart Tag is not a good chip company – this natural disaster could have happened to anyone and it wasn’t their fault.
By Debra Long March 4, 2013 - 4:55 PM
Found Animals provides low-cost ISO standard microchips to humane organizations, with pricing set by volume (we provide a discount for 501c3). The microchips are Found Animals microchips. We have included our microchip pricing tiers below:
1,000+ microchips: $4.95/chip
500-900 microchips: $7.50/chip
100-400 microchips: $10/chip
25, 50, or 75 microchips (with proof of 501(c)(3) documentation): $10/chip
Our universal scanners are provided at cost: $300 for the iMax+; $500 for the ISO Max V (Scanner Fact Sheet attached). We can also provide a Bluetooth-enabled ISO Max V for $525.
Free lifetime registrations are included with all chips, including unlimited online updates, free pet transfers, and automated update reminders. We also provide adopter materials and tech assistance to automatically register each microchip that is implanted, as well as any pets that come through with microchips from other manufacturers.
When a pet is found in the Found Animals Microchip Registry, the shelter or vet can immediately access pet and owner information and send automated Found Pet Alerts to all contacts on file (Found Pet Alert Cascade attached). Rescue groups have the option to stay permanently linked to pets’ records and be included in the alerts as the “Permanent Rescue Contact.” Permanent Rescue Contacts cannot be removed, and allow the adopter to add his or her own emergency contact while keeping the rescue group on the registration.
By Debra Long March 4, 2013 - 4:41 PM
Most microchips companies keep a record of who the chips were sold to, we currently use 24 pet watch, but their pricing has gone up up up, and the online registration is clumsy…
By kevin haddenham February 28, 2013 - 6:58 PM
Definitely sounds like a good beginning. Hopefully this can be accomplished without too much red tape and rescues and shelters will benefit from it.
By Richard Saffell February 28, 2013 - 7:10 PM
RescueGroups.org doesn’t have any red tape! 🙂
By Debra Long March 4, 2013 - 4:41 PM
That’s what I like about Rescue Groups they get it done!
By Kitty February 28, 2013 - 7:08 PM
If you get Avid onboard, I’d be very interested in participating!
A survey of NC municipal shelters shows that the majority can scan the 9 digit Avid chips while a smaller number is able to scan ISO chips. So we prefer to use Avid.
Thanks,
Kitty
Tailless Cat Rescue, Liberty, NC
By Richard Saffell February 28, 2013 - 7:10 PM
Kitty, thanks for this info. We’ll see how things pan out.
By Dianne February 28, 2013 - 7:11 PM
How wonderful it would be to register microchips as easily as you make it to put our animals on line. This is a constant battle for us. Just keeping up with registrations and checking back to see that the company actually did what they were supposed to do. For a small group your help would be an answer to our prayers!
By eleanor walsh February 28, 2013 - 7:11 PM
Terrific! Why can’t rescue/shelters have the easiest, least expensive and “community focused” microchip?
By Kristie Wilder February 28, 2013 - 7:15 PM
I’ve never seen a threat from a chip company that your pet won’t be reunited if you don’t pay the annual fee? In most cases, the annual fee is not required beyond the first registration.
We use the chip furkeeps program and we pay the $12.99 (or whatever it is) fee, register it to the owner prior to adoption, and have us listed as backup.
I wish we had a better system though — I guess like what they use at the vet because it can be tricky registering through chipfurkeeps if the owner already has an account (you’d need a 2nd email address to use to register).
I don’t expect companies to do things for free, but I always hope they do! I can’t blame them for trying to make money. It would be nice to have a chip company that would offer rescues the same type of database vets use (not sure how it works) with the free chips and a basic registration fee…
And with the rescue as a notified party.
As far as solicitation… I’m not trying to be devil’s advocate, but if a company is offering you something for free, I see nothing wrong with them sending a few related ads the way of your rescue and adopter. As long as it’s related. It’s no skin off anyone’s back, esp when adopters and rescues have gotten something at no cost. I don’t like being ungrateful to companies that try to help us and try to give back to them if possible in terms of advertising.
By Catce Kovacs February 28, 2013 - 7:26 PM
Diamond dachshund rescue is struggling with this issue right now. We purchase avid chips but some shelters we pull from have already chipped and if we rechip then which chip will be read? In the past, we had several different chip vendors and are now asking for more money to register. We would live an affordable solution. Thank you for investigating this.
By Susan February 28, 2013 - 7:53 PM
Our chip company charges us about $6 for the chip but if we do not provide their free insurance when we register the chip, they charge us an additional $6. We want to start chipping feral in our TNR program but $12 a chip is too much. Also with the ferals, we may not have a caretaker but the support person feeding the colony may have 30-50 to register with them as the contact. We need a chip that allows us to easily microchip and register ferals without breaking the bank.
By Kristie Wilder February 28, 2013 - 8:05 PM
re: feral cats… what might make sense is to have a chip with a SINGLE code that indicates the group and not the individual cat. So at least the group would be notified and be able to get the cat, but the chip wouldn’t indicate which cat it is. But at least you’d be able to get it back to your group… Not sure if that would work or not as I have no experience with feral cats, but may be an option! Then it wouldn’t involve all the registration, etc. You’d just have a bunch of chip with your group’s id and all the feral cats would have the same code. Would that work?
By steph February 28, 2013 - 8:01 PM
We use Home Again – they offer adopters a one-time fee of $10.99 which includes a lifetime microchip registration, the ability to update your contact information online at no cost, and a one-year HomeAgain membership with additional benefits to keep pets safe. The rescue buys the microchips at a low cost and then for every adopter’s registration, they send the rescue group a free microchip to replace the previous one. Home Again can be contacted at 1-866-802-5650. So far we haven’t had any problems with implanting them and they are automatically registered to the rescue group (so if the adopter never registers the pet they have the rescue group contact info)
By Marilyn Faughner February 28, 2013 - 8:10 PM
We are part of Petfinder’s Furkeeps. We get chips for free, 50 at a time. We pay $10.99 for life.
The hardest part for us is paying to have the chip put in the dog. Vets charge us as much as $65 to put in our own chip! It only costs us $10.99 to register it for life and the chip is free. So putting the chip in the dog is our most expensive aspect. How do other rescues get their chips in for a reasonable fee? (We are not centrally located – we cover 8 states so we can’t use just one implanter.)
Registration has not been easy either. HomeAgain is like a rabid skunk – apologies to skunk lovers everywhere – but they are set up so that every which way we turned, they set up road blocks. HomeAgain would not set us up the registration the way we needed it. We settled for something less than we wanted. But we still chip all of our dogs. Thank God we do! This past Sunday morning I got the call that one of our Yorkies was running loose in a town in NJ where it should not have been. After many phone calls to the adopters we learned that they went to Florida and left the dog with relatives for 3 months – in direct violation of their adoption contract. The relatives left the dog out in a fenced yard and it got through two fences. This could have been a tragedy if the gentleman who found the dog didn’t take her to his vet to have her scanned.
It WORKED! So we proved that the system works.
We are also able to register all other pre-implanted chips to the HomeAgain network. But we do our best to shield adopters from the voracious sales tactics of HomeAgain – they don’t quit! By email! By mail! By phone! Warning the adopters to pay that annual fee or lose vital services. Yes! They do. My own dogs are registered and I got those ads. Our adoption contract explains that the dog is chipped and registered for life. Of course if the adopters move or lose touch with us, all bets are off.
By Michael Kitkoski February 28, 2013 - 8:41 PM
Sign us up! I swear, we were just talking about this in a meeting. A fall-back registration to our organization is all we need. Thank you!
By Addy Dawes February 28, 2013 - 10:42 PM
We use 24PetWatch.com chips. Cost around $6 each and we register them ourselves in PetPoint with the adopter as the owner and us as the emergency contact. The adopter doesn’t have to do any of the registration so we know the chips are safe in the system. The chips also track back to us if the adopter changes the emergency contact. We know that our adopters will be encouraged to take the pet insurance, but we are not penalized if they are not. We warn them of course. Still, it works quite well. We can also register other company’s chips in the database, but we do get charged for them (again at around $6 per chip I think). Only fair – but it is a worry that if a dog gets lost and is scanned for a chip the finder will go to the chip company and not to the 24PetWatch database, so that leads us to having to re-register the chips to us (at a cost) and then have the adopter re-register to them when they adopt (at a cost). And if the adopter doesn’t take over the chip, it’s us who get the annual renewal notice.
What we want is a central chip registry for rescued and rehomed animals. Where all the chips can be registered (to both owner and rescue org) and which becomes the ‘go to’ database for shelters and vets worldwide.
I don’t think we’d ever get the chip companies to work together on a common goal like this. Too much money at stake….
By Aida Walters March 2, 2013 - 7:01 AM
We use 24PetWatch chips as well. But the added fees and charges to us and to the adopter is not a good thing. All the chips are registered to us and we assign them to the adopter so if the adopter cannot be located we are contacted. (Preferred)
I also don’t like that you have to use a secondary program which is double the work to register the chips. It would be awesome if all of this was taken care of in ONE program, Rescue Groups on the “add animal” screen. One and done!
By Debrah Regal March 1, 2013 - 3:07 AM
We just took in 4 cats that were microchipped but the numbers do not show up on our AVID scanner. I think the company was Found Animals or something like that. What a shame we can’t have a microchip that one scanner can read without having to spend lots of money for the scanner. We use Avid chips and have been very happy with the quality of the packaging of the chips and their response to our phone calls for lost and/or found. I will now have to re-chip these 4 cats to make sure their numbers can be read. I wonder how many times this has happened to other groups.
By Betty D March 1, 2013 - 3:50 AM
We’ve used the AVID chips for over ten years now & haven’t had any problems with them. We are automatically enrolled as the backup contact if the chips aren’t registered. People not registering is our biggest problem. To transfer a chip, there’s a fee, new adoption paperwork is submitted & it’s done. They don’t solicit for any other services & their chips are easily read by every scanner
By Diana March 1, 2013 - 7:37 AM
We use AKC Car, our group registers all chips for the owners and we register the rescue as primary owner with the adopter as secondary owner. They have a fantastic price, and we haven’t had any problems with the service or the communication. The chips we buy with AKC Car are 9.95 and they include the cost of registration. Our Microchip Progam Owner has to authorize any changes to primary on the account.
I know some people have asked how to afford the Microchip Implant, call your vets, talk to them about the fact you have your own chip and a vet tech could implant it, at most we are charged $5 to implant the chip. My local Banfield’s are awesome about not charging me anything especially if its the only thing I need done on a dog 🙂
By Brenda Bass March 1, 2013 - 10:31 AM
We use the Chipfurkeeps system through Home Again/Petfinder. We register the chips with us as the primary, and tell the owner that they can record themselves as secondary, but that it isn’t necessary – as we can locate them once *we* are notified. We also tell them to ignore demands for an annual fee, as HA keeps our information on file, anyway. Our vet implants the chips for free when the animals are S/N and under anesthesia, and has implanted a number of them for free during vet exams, even if the animal is already S/N. I also can’t think of any reason we can’t implant our own, if the vet suddenly were to try to charge fees for doing it. It isn’t that difficult.
We have only been microchipping for a few months, and already have been notified of three dogs that were found – chipping works! I have to say we are extremely pleased with the Chipsfurkeeps program, since all we have to pay is the first registration fee, and the chips are free!
By Chance White March 1, 2013 - 2:17 PM
We are former rescuers ourselves, and we created Save This Life as a response to the frustration caused by the microchipping industry. We are dedicated to fixing every flaw in the industry.
Our company has addressed these common problems caused by other microchip companies:
No “fail-back” registration to the rescue/shelter (in case the adopter doesn’t register the chip) -We register every singe microchip to the rescue/shelter who purchased the microchips. They are permanently the secondary owner.
Requirement to sell poorly rated services (ex., the vendor’s pet health insurance) – We have no such requirements and never will.
Solicitation of other services (ex., pet health insurance) without an opt-out – We offer free $1000 of Lost Pet Health Insurance to cover pets for accidents that may occur while they are lost. This is a completely optional and certainly not required. Anyone may opt out. No one contacts the pet owners, the pet owners are free to contact the insurance company for their free policy.
Selling of the registration database to 3rd parties without an opt-out -We never have and never, ever would do this. We are a microchip company created out of a love for animals. We are animal rescuers who knew there had to be a better way to protect pets and reunite lost pets with their owners, so we developed a new industry changing software to help reunite pets with their owners as fast as possible. Watch our video to check it out.
Low post-adoption registration rates by the adopter – We offer a unique registration system that greatly reduces the chance of a pet not being registered.
Yearly microchip “maintenance” fees and the solicitation of those fees – We charge no annual fees. We never have and never will. This is one of the main reasons we started our company.
Threats regarding not paying the fees (“your pet won’t be reunited with you if you don’t pay the fee”) – We we would never do this! We don’t even collect annual fees and we never charge to update your information either.
Check us out at http://www.SaveThisLife.com.
By hound haven March 2, 2013 - 1:04 PM
Please reconsider using ISO chips only; we’re in an area where many shelters use the old universal readers that can’t detect ISO chips and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon — many vets here still don’t chip at all 🙁
Btw, we buy directly from David’s rescue sales and get prepaid registration forms. There is a nominal fee for changing info after initial registration, but it isn’t prohibitive. We’re happy they don’t harass our adopters with additional fees and services 🙂
By hound haven March 2, 2013 - 1:05 PM
Sorry; dang auto correct! AVID chips, not David’s…
By Chance White March 9, 2013 - 12:33 PM
http://youtu.be/Nr2JZp3K6bs
Once you see this video you can NEVER go back to generic microchips.
Save This Life is the FUTURE in microchipping and pet recovery software!!!
By St. Francis Animal Protection Society March 10, 2013 - 12:51 PM
We are currently searching for a cost effective microchip solution as well, we would definitely be interested. Anyone who is currently using Avid’s, what is the cost per chip? Did anyone sign up for the intro rescue package and have any feedback about it?
By krystyn March 10, 2013 - 12:59 PM
We’vee used akc car for some time now – no issues. We go online, type ourselves as primary. After a 2 week trial period with the pet, we make the new guardians as the 2nd (alternate) contact.
It would not be advisable in my opinion to have the primamry preset on a chip prior to leaving the factory. For instance, if we take a dog from a shelter off the euth list and the shelter has already implanted their chip, it would be a hassle to reset that. I’d rather they implant the chip and then we can immediately set our org as primary when we receive the pet….and then list the adoptive family as the alternate contact.
Akc car works – we had 2 incidences last year where akc emailed and called us immediately with a found pet.
We used to have the shelter clinic implant the chip while the pets were undergoing spaying/neutering (less pain)….this is when they did it for free. Now they want to charge us $10 which is a real bummer because we have to pay akc car $9.95…and of course the pain factor. But we have a vet tech in our org (actually he started the org 🙂 ) and so he implants the chips as painlessly as possible.
I guess I cant answer for sure what type of chip akc uses and if its read by all scanners. I certainly hope so….and it seems to be for our area….but I dont know this for sure. Perhaps other akc car users can comment on this please.
We’ve had no obligation with akc to push insurance or other services. Knock on wood, so far so good!
By Cecilia March 11, 2013 - 12:37 AM
We at Jr. Humane Society / United Humanitarians would love more information from RescueGroups regarding an alternative to our current microchip vendor and software.
By Jackie Threatte March 12, 2013 - 4:33 PM
The Chocolate Chip Dalmatian Assistance League (CCDAL) has been using AVID microchips for the past 8 years and have never experienced any of the problems mentioned at the top. When we insert a chip, we have the owner complete all of the paperwork at that time and WE mail the registration form in to the company. We pay the registration fee when we putchase the chips, so our cost remains constant. We have 100% compliance with registration completion, and AVID has always been business-like and helpful in all of our contacts.