May is National Chip Your Pet Month and Responsible Animal Guardian Month.
Woods Humane Society says it wants owners to protect their pets and is offering free microchip clinics at each of its locations throughout May.
The weekly clinics are available at the San Luis Obispo and North County locations.
The nonprofit says microchips are almost the size of a grain of rice and are implanted just under the skin of dogs and cats. Each chip contains a unique code that can be scanned by a vet or an animal shelter employee and matched against an identification database online.
“Microchips allow lost pets to be quickly reunited with their owners rather than experiencing the stress and confusion of being in a shelter—or worse,” says Woods CEO Neil Trent.
The American Humane Association says more than 10 million dogs and cats are lost or stolen in the U.S. every year, while one-third of all pets will become lost at some point in their lives.
The organization says only 15% of lost dogs and 2% of lost cats without ID tags or microchips are reunited with their owners.
“Many of these strays could be returned safely home if they could only be identified,” Trent says. “At just $20, microchips are among the cheapest, easiest and best ways to safeguard our pets against the risk of homelessness and suffering as a stray.”
Local pet owners can make an appointment to get free microchips on Wednesdays from 2-4 p.m. at its San Luis Obispo location, and on Fridays from 2-4 p.m. at its Atascadero location, throughout May.
Appointments can be made at www.SpaySLOCounty.com [spayslocounty.com].
For more information, visit WoodsHumaneSociety.org/adoptions/microchip/ [woodshumanesociety.org] or call (805) 543-9316.
Woods Humane Society is located at 875 Oklahoma Ave., San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 and at 2300 Ramona Rd., Atascadero, CA 93422.
