Venting about Microchipping and local shelter....

tnkittymom

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Ok, there are 2 situations here that are beyond aggravating....I wasn't sure if this should go under the SOS section (due to part about the shelter) or here. I figured that this was the most visited area, so it would be the best choice.
Anyway, here are the situations...

1) After reading a post on here about a lady getting her dog chipped and finding out that the number was registered to someone else (can't remember who now), I decided to check the registrations on our dogs, since I'm planning to get our cats done soon. The vets' offices (2 different ones..."sister clinics") charge $49 to do the chip and that includes the registration. Well, I just found out that the offices left all of our dogs registered to them.
I was told by AVID that, legally, they should not be doing this. We are paying for the chip AND the registration when having it done, but the registration isn't getting done. In all reality, I should have taken the dogs to the dog show recently to have them chipped at the booth set up. They charge under $20 to do the chip and then you do your own registration (they give you the form). I would have saved money and it would have been done right, because the way it stands now, I have already paid the $49 per pet for the chip and then I was going to have to pay another $18.50 per pet or $50 (for up to 5 pets) to get them registered. Luckily, AVID is working with me on this, but it's still frustrating to know that these vet offices aren't doing something by the book. Plus, what if one of our pets was found and at the shelter, but the vet's office was closed for some reason (like recently, they were putting new PCs in and shut the phones off to allow them training time). Our pet could go up for adoption before they ever got through to the vet's office, who then had to get in touch with us.
AVID does know about this, so it should be taken care of. I wasn't trying to get anyone in trouble by any means. I just wanted to make sure that the registration was correct and this is what I found out.

2) I just found out from my friend that works for our local shelter that the shelter has not been scanning any cats and only some of the purebred dogs that come in, which isn't right. They should scan every single animal that comes through that door. Next, they had a Lab puppy that came in as a stray that they didn't even hold for the 3 days that they are required to hold a stray. Instead the puppy got adopted and then the owners showed up wanting their puppy back. The shelter ended up having to buy the people a new puppy to keep them from being sued. If that's not bad enough, they have even put dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens up for adoption without the 3 day waiting period that that came in as strays and were wearing collars!
How can we feel secure about our pets getting back home if they disappear when the shelter isn't doing their job??


I'm sorry for the long vent, but I don't think I'm wrong in being frustrated over these things. I just don't know what can be done. Just like with the shelter, if you ask them if they scan for microchips, they tell you that they do, but they really don't. Is there really anything that can be done?
 

starryeyedtiger

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how frusterating!


your shelter REALLY needs to get with the program though. in the state of tennessee they MUST hold the animals for three days if they are strays before adopting them out....NOW though- if they are owner surrendered or a shelter dump- they can do as they will that day though. There is no excuse for them not scanning every single animal that comes through their doors. that is unacceptable. Our shelter scans EVERYTHING.
As a result- we've be able to reunite numerous animals with their owners.

I am glad to hear that Avid is working with you. That is good. I hope ya'll are able to get everything sorted out. We use Home Again and i've never had any issues with that- they've always been good about updateing/changing information when a owner who had registered an animal surrendered it and a new home adopted it...they always change it over. (sometimes there is a $17.50 registration fee....sometimes there is not- it depends on the situation and whom you speak with. i'm sure avid is similar).

Good luck hon!
 
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tnkittymom

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Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

You are so right on all counts! I wonder how widespread this problem is...
I don't know. That's why I decided to post it, because if it's happening here, it can be happening in other places. It just upsets me to think how so many of us see our pets as our furchildren, but these places aren't respecting that. I was looking on Petfinder last night and it's just awful how many cats that are solid black, tabby, and torties are listed under the Missing Pets section just in my state. How many of them could have shown up in the shelters, but because their coloring is so common, they don't scan them and they don't hold them for 3 days to give the owners a chance?
 

starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by TNKittyMom

I don't know. That's why I decided to post it, because if it's happening here, it can be happening in other places. It just upsets me to think how so many of us see our pets as our furchildren, but these places aren't respecting that. I was looking on Petfinder last night and it's just awful how many cats that are solid black, tabby, and torties are listed under the Missing Pets section just in my state. How many of them could have shown up in the shelters, but because their coloring is so common, they don't scan them and they don't hold them for 3 days to give the owners a chance?
that is soo frusterating.
i definitely understand though as i work at a shelter. the thing that bothers me about what you've shared with us though is that your shelter just doesn't seem to care if they look "ordinary" and they are being lazy about scanning. that is unacceptable. we would get fired or severly reprimanded at our shelter if that happened. (and as it should be- microchipping saves lives! being too lazy to scan is no excuse). It also allows shelters to get in contact with vet clinics and find out information about medical histories on animals/etc....which can be vital if you have an animal dependant on daily meds/etc. I just don't see how a shelter could be soo irresponsible.

Now i will say- i have seen at another local shelter in our area-animals getting put down the same day they come in and not being held for the 3 day period. These aniamls are normally shelter dumps or owner surrenders though- so legally they are allowed to do that. If however the animal is a stray- in the state of TN the shelter legally must hold them for three days before adopting them our or pts. HOWEVER there are certain situations in which heads of the shelters may need to pts or move an animal- such cases would be severe illness that could jeporadize other animals in the shelter or potentially wipe out an entire shelter (parvo) or an extremly violent/aggressive animal who is not on rabies watch. It just depends. But if that shelter is adopting out strays before the three day period- then they could legally get into some VERY hot water, not to mention, loose funding if they are a state sponsored/city shelter. Can you annonymously report these actions to the head of the shelter (if it's a city owned shelter- you may need to go through to the head of the public works dpt in your area.).
 

yorda

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Originally Posted by TNKittyMom

The vets' offices (2 different ones..."sister clinics") charge $49 to do the chip and that includes the registration. Well, I just found out that the offices left all of our dogs registered to them.
I was told by AVID that, legally, they should not be doing this..
When I talked to our regular vet about getting Jilaiya chipped they told me the same thing and told me I would need to pay extra if I wanted her registered in my name...that just seemed really wrong at the time and I am glad we didn't do it. Is there any where on Avid website that states this so I can say something to my vet? It really makes me wonder how many vets are doing this.
 

muttigreemom

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Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Now i will say- i have seen at another local shelter in our area-animals getting put down the same day they come in and not being held for the 3 day period. These aniamls are normally shelter dumps or owner surrenders though- so legally they are allowed to do that.
I don't think I'm fully understanding why a shelter dump animal shouldn't be held for three days. I understand that's the law, but shouldn't they be held too?

I mean outside our shelter there is a caged area where people can 'dump' animals at night when the shelter is closed... and sure ordinarily you'd probably assume that whoever dumped an animal in the lockup was probably the owner and didn't want the pet anymore.... but then I have to wonder how many people have found animals, bring them to the shelter because they can't find their owner, but leave them in the caged area simply because they didnt get off work early enough to get there before the shelter closes... (shelter closes at 5pm... hard to get there if you have to work)

Erm, does that make sense? So really in this case, it would be a shelter dump, but the dog/cat could be someone's pet... so you're not really giving the owner a chance to claim it.

Things like this drive me batty. I would hate to think what would happen if one of my kids got lost... and yes, mine are all chipped, but assume for the moment they're not... on the off chance one of them escapes, someone finds them and brings them to the shelter too late and locks them in the cage at night, I would still like the chance to go rescue them before they're adopted out to someone else.

Ok... I'm rambling, I'm sorry
This is just my biggest fear. I've asked my local shelter on numerous occasions and they swear they scan everyone for chips and hold animals for 7 days, so my odds are good if something were to happen (knock on wood!!) but I would hate to see someone else in any of the above situations.
 
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tnkittymom

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Originally Posted by Yorda

When I talked to our regular vet about getting Jilaiya chipped they told me the same thing and told me I would need to pay extra if I wanted her registered in my name...that just seemed really wrong at the time and I am glad we didn't do it. Is there any where on Avid website that states this so I can say something to my vet? It really makes me wonder how many vets are doing this.
I'll have to go and look when I have some more time. This is what the AVID rep told me on the phone. I'll see if I can find anything for you. If not, we can probably call AVID back and get them to send us something in writing.
 

muttigreemom

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Originally Posted by Yorda

When I talked to our regular vet about getting Jilaiya chipped they told me the same thing and told me I would need to pay extra if I wanted her registered in my name...that just seemed really wrong at the time and I am glad we didn't do it. Is there any where on Avid website that states this so I can say something to my vet? It really makes me wonder how many vets are doing this.
Originally Posted by TNKittyMom

1) After reading a post on here about a lady getting her dog chipped and finding out that the number was registered to someone else (can't remember who now), I decided to check the registrations on our dogs, since I'm planning to get our cats done soon. The vets' offices (2 different ones..."sister clinics") charge $49 to do the chip and that includes the registration. Well, I just found out that the offices left all of our dogs registered to them.
I don't know how to help with your current registration situation, but for any new chips try going to either a low cost spay/neuter clinic or your local shelter. Both of mine do chipping (and have done some of my furkids chips... everyone got theirs done at a different place
) But they insert the chip for a small fee - I want to say $20, and then they give you the registration papers so you can register your kids online, which gives you the opportunity to enter not only your name but also an alternate contact and the vet's name. Even tho the vets name is there, you are still the main contact.

I think registration was $17.50 for homeagain. I don't know how much it was with avid because he was registered by his foster mom... I only had to pay to get his info changed into my name with Avid's 'change of ownership' form.
 
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