Getting a pet microchipped is an important way to protect that pet and make sure that it’s returned if it ever gets lost. A pet’s microchip provides reliable, secure, and permanent identification that can be easily accessed by a veterinarian. This can be a big help in making sure that more of the lost dogs that enter shelters are reunited with their humans.

Of course, the microchips are only good if they’re kept up to date, which brings us to National Check the Chip Day. This holiday is observed annually on August 15th and encourages everyone to make sure that their pet’s microchip has the latest information on it and is working reliably.

The History Of National Check The Chip Day

Microchipping pets has been around for quite some time now. The first patent filed for an animal microchipping system was filed in 1985 by AVID Identification Systems — a company that was based in southern California.

Four years later, in 1989, the first chips were implanted into companion animals. Microchips are generally implanted under the skin and over the shoulder blades in dogs and cats. Each chip contains an ID number that’s unique to the animal.

We’re currently unsure of when National Check the Chip Day was invented, but we do think that it was a holiday that was necessary to create. Oftentimes, people will have a chip implanted in their pet and then they’ll move.

This means that the information on the chip is no longer current and that the pet might not be reunited with them if it ever gets lost. That’s why it’s important for every pet owner to make sure that the information on their pet’s chip is kept up-to-date.

Some Quick & Easy Facts About Pet Microchips

We didn’t want to exit this holiday without taking the time to give our readers some basic information about microchips and how they work. That’s why we decided to do a little bit of our own research and come up with some facts that we could share in the name of National Check the Chip Day.

• A microchip is about the size of a grain of rice and is a non-removable form of identification.
• Microchips aren’t GPS-tracking devices. They can’t locate a lost pet, only identify them when they’re finally retrieved.
• A hand-held scanner is used to retrieve the dog’s unique identification number.

Observing National Check The Chip Day

Making sure that their pet’s microchip is up-to-date is just one of the ways that pet owners can celebrate this holiday.

They can also take the time to volunteer in their local pet shelter, make a sizeable donation to a pet rescue organization or even spread awareness about this holiday online using the hashtag #NationalCheckTheChipDay. In our estimation, all of those are great ways for people to observe this holiday this year and every year thereafter.