Home Again Pet Recovery

What is HomeAgain?
HomeAgain a lost pet recovery service dedicated to the safety and well-being of your pet. A microchip with a unique ID number is injected between the shoulder blades of your pet by a veterinarian. Once your pet is micro chipped, you enroll your pet's microchip ID, description, and photo, along with your contact information, in the HomeAgain National Pet Recovery Database. This is critical to reuniting you immediately with your lost pet once he is found. Pets with any brand of microchip can be enrolled in the HomeAgain program. The chip does not need to be from HomeAgain.

Most vets and shelters around the country have microchip scanners. Vets and shelters routinely scan dogs when they are brought in to see if they have a microchip. Recently our vet reported that a full grown adult dog was brought in by someone for a first time check up. The dog was an obvious pure bred. It was well trained and did not look like a stray. The "new" owner stated he recently adopted this adult dog from a local shelter. The vet was suspicious of the story and scanned the dog for a microchip. The dog's HomeAgain profile came up with an alert to hold the dog because it was reported as stolen. The dog was held at the vet's office until the police were notified and the dog was safely returned to it's owner.

The vet stated that even if the "new" owner's story hadn't been suspicious, the outcome would have been the same. This vet scans each dog that comes in to see if they are micro chipped and to check their status as part of their routine practice.

If you plan to use this system, here are some important tips:

1) REGISTER the pet after the chip has been implanted. This means going on line and entering all the information about the dog.

2) UPDATE your contact information online if you move, this is very important

3) REPORT your dog immediately if it is lost or stolen. The sooner you report this, the more likely you are to get your dog back

4) CONSIDER using your cell phone number for your contact information. This is helpful if your pet is lost while you are on vacation or away from home. Listing your home phone number may cause a delay in getting your pet back if you are not there answer the phone when the important call comes in.

5) UPLOAD a current photo of your dog. When a dog is lost, an alert is emailed to everyone participating in this program located within a certain radius of your address. I can't tell you how many emails I get that have this generic image rather than a photo of the missing dog.
This generic image is not the least bit helpful to people who may have seen your lost pet and want to help you. Please remember to put a photo in your pet's profile.

What's the cost for a microchip? About $45 for the installation and $15 per year for the membership. Rates subject to change.

Does it hurt? Well, I would have to say maybe a little. My dogs were both micro chipped when they were puppies. They reacted the same way they do when they get a routine shot during a check up. One was oblivious and one yelped. No tears...from the puppies anyway. It took no longer than a normal shot would take.

Even if you don't want to microchip your pet, you can sign up to be a pet rescuer and you will receive notification of lost pets in your area. Visit this page to sign up, there is no cost.

Visit the HOMEAGAIN site for more info on their pet recovery system.