While I was waiting for my boarding in Moscow, I was browsing my Facebook. Came across a post where a lady is seeking her lost dog, a 15 months old German pointer. Apparently, she didn’t have any recent photo, only when he was a puppy. To make things worse this dog didn’t have a collar with an identification tag and he didn’t have a microchip ID either. Furthermore, he wasn’t used to his neighborhood – since he spent all his life in a secured courtyard, without casual strolls with his owner. Occasionally, they would take him for hunting trips. No wander that he wanted to take a look at the whole world beyond his wall.
The lady was clearly devastated and one could tell that she loves her dog beyond words – but it makes you wonder what kind of an owner would let his dog go without a collar and without a microchip?! Could someone spot this dog on a street and take him away and register on his own name? Technically, yes. Cause any dog without the microchip ID is treated as an abandoned pet. Anyone could adopt a pet without the identification microchip. Is this an appropriate thing to do? It’s a tough call. And, unfortunately, it is left on conscience of a person that finds a dog. And, it shouldn’t be that way. If all the pets owners behaved in accordance with the Serbian law and if all the veterinarians applied the same law and microchip animals before they treat them – we wouldn’t have so many pets without the microchip ID!
According to statistics, there are 850.000 dogs in Serbia with microchip ID. It is estimated that there is at least the same number of dogs without the microchip ID – and, not all these dogs are stray dogs. Many of them are just like Victor, the German pointer that ran away from home. Their owners are not aware that despite their best efforts, accidents can happen. Someone leaves a door ajar, an intrepid pooch digs under a fence, and your best intentions go awry: Your pet escapes and gets lost. If they’re wearing a collar and identification tag, chances are good that you’ll get them back since it’s likely to be a private citizen to encounter them first. That’s why, in the event of accidental separation, identification tags are your pet’s first ticket home. Second is the microchip ID – a good option for pet identification and along with the pet’s passport serve as a proof of ownership. Reading a microchip takes a special scanner, one that an animal control officer or veterinarian will have, but your neighbor down the street will not. Nowadays, there are microchips with GPS locators, too.
Obviously, only a combination of different identification means could increase chance that a missing pet gets back to his owner. The main thing however is the mindset. When you have something precious, you take care of it: you lock down your car, you don’t leave it wide open with a key in the engine and ready to take off. Instead, you secure it the best way you can. The same is, or even more important, with your pets: doing anything within your powers to prevent forever unpleasant events like pet missing. Especially, when it only costs peanuts.
Victor was fortunate enough to come across a kind and a genuine person – who put their best effort to reunite Victor with his owner. Although stressful, I believe this event has thought her a lesson and reduced the number of dogs without the microchip ID for one.
