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Animal shelter will give microchips Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.gazette.net/200444/montgomerycty/county/242175-1.htmlhttp://www.gazette.net/200444/montgomerycty/county/242175-1.html
Keeping a digital eye on animals
by Margie Hyslop
Staff Writer
Oct. 27, 2004
Duncan plan would mandate microchips
Identifying microchips would be implanted under the skin of all animals -- stray, lost, relinquished or seized -- that pass through the Montgomery County Animal Shelter under a proposal by Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan.
The executive regulation does not require County Council approval, and animal control director Capt. Wayne Jerman said he expects the mandatory microchip requirement to go into effect by the end of the year.
The measure would mandate microchipping of dogs declared dangerous or potentially dangerous under the county's animal control law as well as strays and any animal offered for adoption by the shelter.
The Montgomery County Humane Society, which runs the shelter under a contract with the county, already scans strays in the hope of finding a readable chip. It supports mandating the microchip as a way to identify lost pets.
Humane Society President Margaret Zanville said the humane society will charge less than $10 to inject the chip, which is about the size of a grain of rice, under the skin at the back of the animal's neck.
"We're not going to make a profit on it [and] we're not competing with vets -- I want to be clear about that," Zanville said. "These are animals that would never go in for a chip."
A sampling of four county veterinary offices found charges for the service average $39, with about 40 percent of that going toward the cost of including an animal's data in a national registry.
Zanville said she does not think the extra charge will deter potential adopters who already pay as much as $128 (for a very large unspayed female dog in need of complete range of preventative care) or as little as nothing, depending on the size, sex and species of the animal and on whether the shelter has to secure discounted spaying, neutering, vaccinations, treatments and other care to ensure the animal's health.
Adopters are not charged for services that the shelter can verify the animal does not need, so adopters would not pay neutering or spaying fees for animals that have been altered or vaccinated, as is sometimes the case with animals who are given up by their owners.
"I think people will see [microchipping] as a big plus," Zanville said.
She said the shelter probably will use a microchip called "Home Again," but will maintain its own registry free of charge.
Adopters and reclaiming owners who want to put their pets in a national registry may obtain that service from organizations such as the American Kennel Club for a fee, Zanville said.
The regulation also would authorize the county's animal control director to order microchipping of animals when he decides that it is in the best interest of the public or the owner.
Jerman said that provision will be useful to track nuisance livestock and animals whose ownership has been or may be disputed.
Animals taken into the shelter temporarily while their owners are ill and unable to care for them would not be subject to the requirement, he said.
Beyond revisions to include the microchip requirement, the Duncan administration has proposed defining an animal "bite" so that it does not necessarily include breaking the skin.
State law requires skin to be broken for a dog to be quarantined, but Duncan (D) wants Montgomery law to address the behavior of biting, said Assistant County Attorney Michael Fry, who wrote the proposed amendments.
Duncan's proposal also would add the charge of "unwanted contact," defined as "unwelcome or unsolicited physical contact or close proximity ... which would be expected to cause alarm in a reasonable person."
Fry said the county has received many complaints about incidents that fit the unwanted contact description.
The Humane Society of the United States supports microchipping as a supplement, but not a substitute, for identification tags.
Pet microchips are not readable by all scanners because of a lack of uniform standards among vendors, warned John Snyder, a spokesman for HSUS, which has national office in Gaithersburg.
But "a collar and tag can effect a return by anyone on the street," Snyder said.
He recommends that pet owners contact their animal shelter and veterinarian to ensure that the chip they get is likely to be readable.
Hundreds of animal shelters across the nation have been requiring their charges to be microchipped for six to eight years, Snyder said.
A fiscal impact statement on the regulation is being prepared by the county's Office of Management and Budget.
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