HARLINGEN — When a pet is lost, a responsible pet owner should want to find their animal.
Right?
That is where microchipping comes in, says Kim Warunek, executive director of the Harlingen animal shelter.
Besides, it’s now the law in Harlingen.
Last year, city commissioners approved an ordinance requiring dog and cat owners to microchip their pets by Jan. 1, 2017.
Those who don’t could face hefty fines of $266.
It all stems from the problem of overcrowding in shelters. The ordinance is also aimed at helping cut down on the number of animals euthanized each year, said Warunek.
According to the Humane Society of the United States, the nation’s animal shelters take in 6 to 8 million cats and dogs each year, and anywhere from 3 to 4 million of those animals are euthanized.
Last year, the Harlingen animal shelter euthanized 6,299 dogs and cats.
The ordinance requires dog and cat owners to install a microchip in their pet that allows the animal shelter to identify the pet owner.
Not all of them are strays — many are lost pets that shelters can’t identify and reunite with their owners. One way to prevent this unfortunate fate for your own cat or dog is through microchip identification.
Microchips are tiny transponders that communicate your pet’s ID information through radio frequencies.
Each chip is about the size of a grain of rice, and a vet usually implants it under your pet’s skin in between the shoulder blades, said Warunek.
A registration number that corresponds to information on file about your pet is coded into the chip, so that a scanner can easily read the radio frequency and retrieve details about your cat’s or dogs identity.
The shelter charges $10 to install microchips, she said.
The ordinance also boosts fines for pet owners who let their dogs or cats run loose.
That cuts the risk of pets being euthanized, said Pat Truman-White, the Human Society’s president.
Now, fines start at $40 for stray cats and $90 for loose dogs.
But the ordinance increases those fines to as much as $2,000.
The fines are in effect.
In addition, the ordinance has also allowed the number of household pets to change. Now, households will be allowed to contain five animals, dogs or cats, instead of the previous three.
