Getting a pet microchipped is an important way to protect that pet and ensure it is 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 ensuring that more lost dogs that enter shelters are reunited with their humans.

Of course, microchips are only effective if they are 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 ensure that their pet’s microchip has the latest information and is working reliably.

The History Of National Check The Chip Day

Microchipping pets has been around for quite some time. The first patent filed for an animal microchipping system was in 1985 by AVID Identification Systems—a company 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 unique to the animal.

We’re currently unsure when National Check the Chip Day was created, but we do think it was a necessary holiday to establish. Often, people will have a chip implanted in their pet and then move.

This means that the information on the chip is no longer current, and the pet might not be reunited with them if it ever gets lost. That’s why it’s important for every pet owner to ensure 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 but can only identify them when they’re found.
• A hand-held scanner is used to retrieve the pet’s unique identification number.

Observing National Check The Chip Day

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

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