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Pets Page

Lassie Come Home

or A Chip of Round the Old Block

The disappearance of your pet can be one of the most upsetting and frustrating periods of anyone's experience with animals. It is one of the most common problems with pets. Just about everyone loses a much loved pet at some stage and thankfully, most are found within a short time. Every day our surgery receives a couple of calls about lost or stray pets - about 1000 lost animals per year.

Many strays end up at our surgery when sick or injured, and if not claimed after recovering must, under existing by-laws, be taken to the local pound. Unfortunately, about a quarter of lost animals are not returned to their owners and end up either euthanased or are found new homes via the pound or the RSPCA.

Many owners experience more distress about a lost pet than one that has died. This is understandable, as they never can know what has happened to their much loved pet. Often, the situation is never resolved and people still fret for a lost pet years later. Especially upsetting is when children's pets are lost because of the very strong emotional attachment that has been formed.

There are a few basic reasons why pets go missing. These are:

• Human error, for example where somebody leaves the gate or door open, most commonly not a member of the family who is unaware of the "Houdini" capabilities of the pet.

• Theft of attractive pets to keep or sell

There are a few simple techniques you can employ to give your pet its best chance of being reunited with the family.

Firstly, make your house or yard secure. Even a fully fenced yard can pose little deterrent to a determined dog, however. They either dig under the fence or jump over it. Many dogs have been deterred from this behaviour by placing mousetraps along the fenceline. These can be placed right up against the fence and "baited" with twigs. When the dog knocks the twig it sets the mousetrap off, which leaps and makes a sharp snapping sound, frightening but not harming the pet. This soon discourages the dog from digging and leaping. One of the nurses at this practice tried it with a 50kg German Shepherd to discourage him from digging under the fence. It worked so well, he hasn't attempted it for two years, without the presence of further traps.

Desexing your pet reduces the urge to explore and mark out a larger territory. Desexed cats and dogs have a territory about the quarter of the size of their previous territory. Males are particularly prone to disappearing for days on end in search of a mate. This means crossing roads, getting into fights and other perils.

Collars with council registration tags, engraved ID tags etc are a great idea. We also supply our clients with a tag with our phone number and an individualised number on it that reunites owners with their pets far quicker than having to go to the pound. However, not all pets wear a collar, and some only infrequently, so what else can you do?

Microchips are a small painless device that can permanently identify your pet as belonging to you. It is inserted under the skin on the back just behind the shoulder blades. No bigger than a grain of rice, they are a tiny computer chip with a unique number. Once inserted they cannot be lost, removed or altered for the life of your pet. The procedure is no more painful than an injection and causes no harm. The chip is inert and causes no reaction once place and there is virtually no chance of allergic reaction or rejection type reactions from the animal. As well as cats and dogs it's been used in horses, birds, fish and zoo animals large and small - in fact almost any animal.

Because it has no moving parts or power supply, the chip should last for decades. A scanner passed over it emits a radio signal which reads the unique chip number through the skin of the animal and double checks the number in less than half a second. The number is then checked by the Australian Animal Register data base to quickly reunite you with your pet. Scanners have been donated to all council pounds and many veterinarians have them too.

All RSPCA animals have had microchips inserted in them for years, so councils and vets are well versed in scanning animals on the off chance they may have a chip in them. The chips have a lifetime registration which means that after they have been inserted, you never pay another cent. Typically, the cost of ID chip insertion and registration for life is about $60 total costs. If it means saving a lot of heartaches and worry then it's definitely money well spent.

If your pet goes missing, ring Katoomba or Blacktown pounds via the council as most dogs end up at these two locations. Also, arrange a visit so you can check for yourself. Ring the local veterinarians in the area and they will register your pet in their "Lost and Found" books. If you find a pet ring the local vets and council to let them know, so they can keep a record. Put up fliers on local sites in case someone has seen your pet. Advertise in local papers (such as this one) and 2WS does a daily lost pet spot for the area. Professional pet finders such as PETSEARCH are also willing to canvas the local area in search of your pet.

Hopefully the vast majority of you will never find yourself in this situation, and if you take the precautions you'll give you and your pet the best chance of a long and happy life together.