100th dog chipped as Danny and owner reunited
Tuesday April 10, 2012
100 dogs have been micro-chipped in an innovative new scheme to reunite lost pets with their owners and the technology has already paid off for one worried dog lover.
Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council’s Parks Constabulary has been running a micro-chipping programme for man’s best friend, with the help of the Dogs Trust, to make it easier for lost canines to be tracked down.
The initiative, which runs in the borough’s award winning parks and is free to H&F residents, has already enjoyed its first success story as Danny the staffy was reunited with his worried owner of 11 years last month.
“I live on a boat and had moored in H&F for a few days,“ says Danny’s owner Wayne Clarke, 49. “When we moved up the canal to Harlesden and I lost sight of Danny for a few minutes he must have gone back to where we had been staying in H&F.
“I am extremely gratefully to the Parks Constabulary for finding him and reuniting us and I would encourage other owners to get their dogs micro-chipped too. It is very straight forward process and only takes a few minutes. It is free and can be done in the park so the dogs are not stressed out at all.”
Whilst every dog owner is legally obliged to ensure that their dog is wearing a collar and identification disc, thousands of owners across the country have now taken steps to ensure their much-loved companion can also be identified through micro-chip technology.
Micro-chipping is now recognised as the most effective and secure way of permanently identifying a pet and Zorro became the 100th H&F hound to be micro-chipped. Zorro, who is just 6 months old and is owned by Nina Bone of Fulham Palace Road, was micro-chipped in Bishops Park last week.
When a dog is chipped a unique identification number is registered to the animal and the owner’s details are placed on a national database.
“Hundreds of dogs across London go missing each year and only around a half of them are reunited with their owners,” says Cllr Greg Smith, H&F Council cabinet member for residents’ services. “For many dog lovers losing their pet can feel like losing a member of the family but our free micro-chipping programme is giving owners the peace of mind that their faithful companion is more likely to be returned safe and sound.”
The micro-chip is a small electronic device, which is the size of a grain of rice, and is coded with a unique number that can be read by a scanner. The chip works through a radio wave frequency. Using a specially designed implanting device the micro-chip is injected through a sterile needle under the dog’s skin. No anaesthetic is required and the procedure should cause no more discomfort than a standard vaccination.
The Parks Constabulary’s next session of free micro-chipping takes place at Eel Brook Common in Fulham on Thursday, May 3 between 11:30am-2pm.
