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These microchips are amazing technology. I highly highly encourage all you pet lovers to obtain one for your little homie. You never know when you’ll need it.

OptionOfT 7mo ago
24 EU countries have mandatory dog micro-chipping. In Belgium there is a centralized database in which the data is maintained. When I moved to the USA I thought it was very weird that it wasn't done automatically, and that there are many databases out there. In fact, one went bust a while ago: https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/microchip-company-closes-pet-owner-next-steps/ https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/microchip-company-cl... Now what? Gotta pay to have 18 digits and an address inserted in a database? I thought it was very weird in the USA
- 3eb7988a1663 7mo ago
  That is upsetting for what could almost certainly be run from a SQLite database on a garbage-tier host. Presumably 99.9% of all animals are registered one time and never again queried. Could be near zero operational burden, but of course, capitalism.
- sojournerc 7mo ago
  Coloradan with all chipped pets for decades. Not sure where you're coming from. Our friend was reunited with a cat with a chip that was lost for a 6 months. Shitting on the US is great for karma these days
  - deleted 7mo ago
    [deleted]
  - gonzalohm 7mo ago
    Did your state chip your pet or was it a private company? I think they are saying that there are no centralized authorities and you depend on private companies
    - sojournerc 7mo ago
      https://www.petlink.net/microchip-search/ https://www.petlink.net/microchip-search/ It seems the various chip companies share registry data, doesn't have to be state run.
- kelnos 7mo ago
  Like many things in the US, there's no centralized authority that mandates this sort of thing. Some states have laws around this some don't. For those that don't, some counties or cities might have laws around this. Belgium of course has a stronger central government, small land area, and a small population, so I'm not surprised that something like that would be done country-wide. The shelter in my city chips every animal before anyone can adopt them. It's honestly bonkers to me why anyone who has a pet wouldn't chip them. It's cheap (especially when considering the cost of a regular vet visit), and can save you from lots of heartbreak later on.
- gonzalohm 7mo ago
  Yeah, I moved to the US and I also thought it was weird. Same with vaccination stuff for dogs. You need to carry paperwork if you want to cross the Canada border. It's a throwback to the last century I guess.
aa-jv 7mo ago
I had moved into a new place, and it had a little garden, which attracted stray city cats. A kitten found my garden and adopted it, just moving in and living there. I invited her inside, fed her, took her to the vet, made sure she was okay. She had no chip, was definitely a stray. So I adopted her, got her chipped per the law, and she grew into a fine cat who loved her place with me - she was great. One time she got out, and I got the call. But it wasn't to get her back, it was to come get her corpse from under the car that had flattened her some distance from our home. In many ways, I wish I'd not gotten the chip, that was a really traumatic event which I'd probably have avoided, at least not knowing what had happened.

OptionOfT 7mo ago

24 EU countries have mandatory dog micro-chipping. In Belgium there is a centralized database in which the data is maintained. When I moved to the USA I thought it was very weird that it wasn't done automatically, and that there are many databases out there. In fact, one went bust a while ago: https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/microchip-company-closes-pet-owner-next-steps/ https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/microchip-company-cl... Now what? Gotta pay to have 18 digits and an address inserted in a database? I thought it was very weird in the USA

3eb7988a1663 7mo ago
That is upsetting for what could almost certainly be run from a SQLite database on a garbage-tier host. Presumably 99.9% of all animals are registered one time and never again queried. Could be near zero operational burden, but of course, capitalism.
sojournerc 7mo ago
Coloradan with all chipped pets for decades. Not sure where you're coming from. Our friend was reunited with a cat with a chip that was lost for a 6 months. Shitting on the US is great for karma these days
- deleted 7mo ago
  [deleted]
- gonzalohm 7mo ago
  Did your state chip your pet or was it a private company? I think they are saying that there are no centralized authorities and you depend on private companies
  - sojournerc 7mo ago
    https://www.petlink.net/microchip-search/ https://www.petlink.net/microchip-search/ It seems the various chip companies share registry data, doesn't have to be state run.
kelnos 7mo ago
Like many things in the US, there's no centralized authority that mandates this sort of thing. Some states have laws around this some don't. For those that don't, some counties or cities might have laws around this. Belgium of course has a stronger central government, small land area, and a small population, so I'm not surprised that something like that would be done country-wide. The shelter in my city chips every animal before anyone can adopt them. It's honestly bonkers to me why anyone who has a pet wouldn't chip them. It's cheap (especially when considering the cost of a regular vet visit), and can save you from lots of heartbreak later on.
gonzalohm 7mo ago
Yeah, I moved to the US and I also thought it was weird. Same with vaccination stuff for dogs. You need to carry paperwork if you want to cross the Canada border. It's a throwback to the last century I guess.

aa-jv 7mo ago

I had moved into a new place, and it had a little garden, which attracted stray city cats. A kitten found my garden and adopted it, just moving in and living there. I invited her inside, fed her, took her to the vet, made sure she was okay. She had no chip, was definitely a stray. So I adopted her, got her chipped per the law, and she grew into a fine cat who loved her place with me - she was great. One time she got out, and I got the call. But it wasn't to get her back, it was to come get her corpse from under the car that had flattened her some distance from our home. In many ways, I wish I'd not gotten the chip, that was a really traumatic event which I'd probably have avoided, at least not knowing what had happened.