Two animal cases highlight need for microchips

SCHOHARIE & SCHENECTADY COUNTIES, N.Y. (NEWS10) -The Animal Shelter of Schoharie Valley was alerted to a cat inside an abandoned building down the road by a Good Samaritan. His name is Boots and thankfully he has a microchip.

Microchips are little devices implanted between a pet’s shoulder blades. Only as small as a grain of rice, they carry a unique code that links back to family contact information.

But the info on Boots was not up to date. "It came up with a phone number and an address for someone in Arkansas. So a little far from home if that is the case," said Aprille Hadsell, a Veterinarian.

That number was out of service. Still, not all hope was lost. A family with the same last name in the chip's data previously reported Boots missing. It turns out the family had moved to the area from Arkansas but never updated his chip.

"If you acquire an animal that has a microchip or if you move, your phone number changes… It’s important to update that information because had they not called us and given us their name and phone number, we would never of known that it was their cat," explained Hadsell.

A similar situation happened on the side of Route 159 and Route 30 in Schenectady County. Found was a female mixed-breed dog with an injured hind leg and no microchip or identification.

"It’s so important to have tags on a dog or have your dog microchipped. A lot of people think, 'Oh, my dog is never gonna get out. It’s never gonna run away.' But as we’ve seen over the past couple days, there’s been accidents where dogs have been ejected from vehicles and then run away," described Greg Rinckey, Schenectady County SPCA Chief.

Note that this dog is not the same dog that was ejected from a nearby crash.

This dog was brought to the Animal Care Centers of NYC for treatment. Time to adopt was ticking shortly after she arrived on the night of Christmas Eve. "Unfortunately, it has to happen very quickly because shelters are overflowing this time of year with animals so it has to happen within the next couple of days. Potentially, the dog could be put down," stated Chief Rinckey.

Thankfully, that won’t be happening. The couple who found the dog on the side of the road decided to adopt her.

Anyone with information on the circumstances of both Boots the cat and the female Great Pyrenees/Retriever/Newfoundland cross dog are asked to contact the groups involved: