Importance of the Microchip

Israeli law states that every owner of a dog older than 3 months of age must have a dog ownership license. Getting this license is subject to vaccinating the dog against rabies, paying a fee to the municipality and identifying the dog by implanting a microchip.

The microchip is a small electronic chip, roughly the size of a grain of rice, which is implanted under the dog’s skin, usually between the shoulder blades. The only information that this chip has is a 15 digit number. The chip does not have a GPS.

After vaccinating a dog against rabies, the vet will report the vaccination to the local municipality. This report will include the dog’s information (name, breed, age, colour, microchip number, etc.) and the owner’s information (name, address, phone number, etc.) and these will be saved in the national microchip database. 

The importance of implanting a microchip in a dog, other than obeying the law, in that such a dog can be identified when lost. When a lost dog is found and brought to a veterinary clinic or a dog shelter, s/he is scanned for a microchip. Once a microchip is found, its number is looked up in the national microchip database and the dog’s worried owners can be called up and informed that s/he was found. Sometimes, especially when the dog got lost soon after having the chip implanted, the dog’s and owner’s information will not be available in the database but it will say who the microchip was sold to. One phone call to that vet can be all that is needed to get that lost dog home.

Recently we encountered a moving an unusual story when we met Pedro. Pedro was adopted as a puppy and got lost when he was just under a year old. His owner had looked for him for a very long time until, sadly, he had to come to term with the fact that Pedro will not come back. Luckily, and surprisingly, Pedro came back home 2 years after he was lost and was reunited with his owner only thanks to his microchip. You can read and hear more about Pedro on our Facebook page     

To be on the safe side, we also recommend putting a tag with your name and phone number on your dog’s collar, so whoever finds your dog can call you without having to get to a veterinary clinic or a dog shelter, which are not always open 24/7. We also recommend writing your name on the tag and not your dog’s name in order not to make the dog thieves’ lives any easier.

Sadly, we see lost dogs at least once a week and not all of them have microchips. A dog without a microchip will most likely never get reunited with his original owner. Had your dog gotten lost, wouldn’t you want him to get back to you?