Micro chipping is quite the hot topic in the world of animals today but is it a solution or something much more sinister?
With so many dogs and their ability to do Houdini acts, we need to know how to keep them safe and protected as well as how to recover them if they should make their great escape. Is micro chipping the answer for your dog?
This is actually another one of those controversial subjects in the world of animals. Part of the problem is that there isn't a standard universal microchip scanner because they are all proprietary. That means that each company who makes them can each only read certain microchips. There is a plan afoot to not only push for a mandatory universal scanner but to mandate by law all domesticated animals -meaning ALL not just dogs -be microchipped. Many are singing the praises of this movement, but I for one am not one of them.
You may be wondering how someone, such as myself, would not be for the mandatory microchip movement, especially as an outspoken proponent on animal welfare. That is exactly why I'm not -as an outspoken proponent on animal welfare not animal rights. Before you get in an uproar let's just lay down some of the pros and cons of micro chipping.
Pros
If our dog should be lost during a storm, or for any reason it would be much easier to be able to reunite with our lost pet so much sooner. In fact, in the book I co-authored with Dr. Jill Elliot, Whole Health for Happy Dogs, we said as much. In fact, Dr. Elliot had one wonderful case of how a lost dog was reunited with the owner because of the implanted microchip in her client's dog. The likelihood of this dog being reunited with its owner otherwise was practically zero to none.
Another pro is that owners would be forced by law to do the responsible thing for their pets' welfare. This is the extent of the pros I see but is this really a "pro" or is it a "con"?
Cons
Why should the government mandate any more laws that take away my rights as a pet owner and caregiver? If we decide to bring a pet home then it is our responsibility NOT the government's to tell me how to care for it. I know there are so many people that don't do the right thing who are horrible pet owners but again, that is the price we pay for a truly free society. There will always be rotten apples in any society whether it is a free one or not. I do not want nor need more government interference in my life. I see this mandatory micro chipping as a total invasion of my privacy and an erosion of my rights as a citizen of the USA.
There is an insidious movement underfoot in the world regarding animal rights and I for one am not on the side of this movement. I am rather, on the side of animal welfare because I love and care for animals and especially our domesticated animals. The mandatory micro chip would mean not only could we find our animals but the government could find and track us as well because it's not really the animals being tracked but us. Think about it: it is your information in this micro chip along with your pets' information. I seriously doubt that the government cares a whole lot about our domesticated animals and we don't have to look far to know that. Consider the hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005 to see how much concern our government really had for our pets. For a person who grew up reading such authors as Orson Wells, micro chipping bodes too Orwellian for an independent thinker such as me.
I leave the ball in your court to decide what is best for you and your pets, but will the government give you the same consideration?
