CANASTOTA --
Claudette Giroux needs her service dog, Delilah, to help her get through the day.
"I can't survive a day without her,” she said as she walked around Wanderer’s Rest Animal Shelter in Canastota.
To make sure Delilah can find her way home if she gets lost, Giroux had a microchip implanted on Delilah that shelters and vets can use to find her information. She knows there are a lot of animals at Wanderer's Rest that are still hoping their owner can find them.
"They have very pretty collars on so obviously there's somebody that took care and loved them but they don't know who they belong to,” said Giroux.
Unfortunately, many shelters and vets have discovered that even when they find a microchip, it isn't always a sure bet for being able to reunite a lost animal with its family.
"When you get your animal microchipped, or a shelter does it, you get a packet where you fill out your name and your number on there and you're supposed to send it to the company,” said Denise Adams from Wanderer’s Rest. “A lot of people end up not doing it so what happens is there's a number but no information we can follow up with."
The American Veterinary Medical Association recently published a study saying 40% of microchipped animals were not registered in any database.
Another problem can come up when people move. If the pet’s information isn’t updated, the microchip is nearly useless.
At Wanderer's Rest, they say it's frustrating to know that some pets have a loving home, but they can't find it. The shelter staff hopes to improve things and now makes sure the registration paperwork is filled out for all animals adopted from the shelter. Several area vets, including the Stack Animal Hospital, also make sure the information is registered.