In the event that your pet leaves home without you, the chances of a safe return are greatly increased if it is microchipped.

The process involves inserting a tiny microchip under your pet's skin where it stays safely for life. The insertion procedure is quick and simple with little or no discomfort no matter how small your pet.

This is the most infallible way of permanently identifying your pet. The microchip has it's own worldwide "unique" code number. When a scanner is passed over the area your pets unique number is shown. Your pet's details are registered for life on a New Zealand wide database and a database held by the regional council.

Greenlane Veterinary Centre is a New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) accredited microchipping centre. This accreditation ensures you the highest quality standards are being used when administering this modern technology. Auditing is performed on clinics with this accreditation to ensure that we meet the required standard.

The Microchipping Regulations

You may or may not be aware that the Dog Control Act was amended by Parliament. One resulting measure has attracted considerable media attention, namely the compulsory microchipping of all dogs newly registered after the 1st of July 2006.

The aim of the scheme is to make dog microchip control laws easier to enforce, since animal control officers will be able to scan dogs, identify their owners through the microchip system, and enforce fines etc. as necessary. However it also has some flow-on benefits in terms of animal welfare, since it will alleviate the frequent problem of sick or injured dogs being brought into shelters or veterinary clinics by members of the public who do not know who the true owners are. We have always advocated microchipping for dogs and cats on those grounds.

We at Greenlane Veterinary Centre use the excellent “back to home” microchips. To find out more about these microchips you can contact Virbac at www.virbac.co.nz.