Through our Friends of the Shelter program, Prince William SPCA has sponsored the microchip program at the Prince William County Animal Shelter since January 1, 2014. Each cat or dog adopted from the shelter receives a complimentary microchip. Strays that enter the shelter system and are redeemed by their families will receive microchips before departing. There is no fee to the pet owner for this service.

The program uses SmartTag Microchips that are registered at the time the pet leaves the shelter. Microchips carry an identification number that is unique to each individual pet. While they do not serve as tracking devices, microchips can permanently and positively identify pets, linking them back to the owners. If a pet gets lost and is taken to a vet clinic or animal shelter, it will be scanned for a microchip to reveal its unique ID number. That number will be called into the pet recovery service and the owner will be contacted using the information on file with the pet’s microchip. Since there is no battery and no moving parts, there is nothing to keep charged, wear out, or replace. The microchip will last the pet’s lifetime.

Another benefit to the microchip includes lost pet “Amber Alerts” that can be instantly sent to broadcast the alert, with all the pet’s details, via email, phone and fax to all the shelters and rescue organizations in a 50-mile radius of the pet’s last know location. The chip has a 24/7 free live support feature that owners can call for any lost/found pet situations or questions. They also provide free “Instant Lost Pet Posters” that can be created with one click of the button and then printed at home.