[ SHOWGSD-L ] READ THIS!! long FW.. Microchips-Companion Animal Recovery
- From: Stormy435@xxxxxxx
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:55:53 EDT
Permission to crosspost was given by Patti Miller.
Subject: Dogchat: Microchips-Companion Animal Recovery
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 08:46:26 -0500
I am going to preface this email by saying please don't shoot the messenger.
Please don't tell me that I should not have used Home Again microchips or
that I should not have registered them with Canine Animal Recovery. I am
posting this email simply as a "heads up" to anyone else who might be
affected by a similar situation. :-)
First a little background:
About 4 years ago we sold one of our finished (neutered) silky terriers.
Our purchase contract states that "This dog is fitted with a microchip.
Microchip registration shall remain in the seller's name, with the buyer's
name being added as well. Buyer is to notify seller of any changes in
address or telephone so records can be updated. Microchips are registered
with the American Kennel Club Companion Animal Recovery. Telephone
1-800-252-7894."
We do things this way so we can keep track of our dogs. For instance, if a
new owner's dog gets away and we are contacted, we will then contact the new
owner to help them get the dog back. Therefore, the owner must keep their
information with us current or we will be the ones getting the dog back. It
also lets us know if the person we place a dog with has rehomed the dog
without telling us. Also, if the dog gets loose repeatedly, we may question
whether this is the right home for this dog. Without our name as the
contact for the microchip, we would have no way of knowing if this was
happening.
Now for the "situation":
Yesterday in the mail, we received a letter from the AKC's Companion Animal
Recovery. It stated that "Someone has requested that your former pet's
record, (microchip number), be transferred into their name."
It further states that if I don't want this transfer to take place, I must
return this form within 30 days or they will go ahead and make the change.
I was flabbergasted!! Not only had the owner never contacted me to request
this, but I then discovered that the change HAD ALREADY BEEN MADE and would
only be reversed if they received my denial of the request. Sure enough,
when I checked that number online, the dog was no longer in our name. The
records showed that the primary contact was the new owner. We were not even
listed as the alternate contact. I also discovered that by simply knowing
one dog's microchip number, the owner's last name and zip code, anyone can
go on CAR's web site and access that person's entire listing of dogs. All
of our dogs were listed, their registration numbers, microchip numbers, and
the names and phone numbers of the alternate contacts on each. All of this
besides OUR names, address, phone numbers (including cell numbers if you put
that on your registration form for the microchip), and email address. In
addition, anyone can "edit" any information they so choose. Talk about not
protecting our privacy.
To me, the implications of this are unlimited. For example, a dog could be
stolen and by simply knowing the real owner's last name and microchip, you
can change the contact information. It might be caught eventually, but not
for at least 30 days and maybe longer. My friend who works for a vet said
when someone comes in with a pet they found, they have always given the
"finder" the microchip number so they can use it to try to find the owner,
but now they may have to reconsider that. A person could also find out
exactly which dogs owned by an individual are indeed microchipped AND which
ones are not! In this particular case, I'm wondering if the dog has already
been lost and the owner just doesn't want us to know. I don't think I'm
being paranoid when I say this is a disaster waiting to happen.
So, as I said, if you do use the Companion Animal Recovery system, you may
want to check your listings online and make sure everything is correct and
that all the dogs that should be listed there still are. A double check of
our list found several that should be on the list that are not. Today I
will be doing some investigating to find out why they aren't. Also, please
let the people at CAR know if this type of arrangement upsets you as much as
it does me.
Thanks,
Patti Miller
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