ToH First to Chip Pets
Hempstead First Town to "Chip" All Adopted Pets
Saving animals and reuniting lost pets with anxious owners are top
priorities for Supervisor Kate Murray and folks at the Hempstead Town
Animal Shelter. In furtherance of these goals, the town shelter is the
first in Nassau County to place identification chips, free of charge,
under the skin of all dogs and cats adopted from Hempstead's municipal
shelter. Pets recovered by the township's shelter are routinely
scanned and those pets that are chipped can usually be united with
owners with a simple phone call (contact information is electronically
embedded in the chip).
"This is the only time that you'll hear me use the terms 'chipper'
and 'pets' in the same sentence," stated Murray. "By having a pet
chipped, an owner can rest assured knowing if Fido, KoKo or Max gets
out and turns up at our animal shelter, they can be reunited quickly."
The initiative, which has just taken effect, will speed up the
reunion time of pets and pet owners. All animals adopted from the
shelter will be "chipped" before the animal leaves the shelter, with
no additional cost to the adopter.
Even pets that already have a loving home can participate in this
program for a nominal fee. Owners can simply make a convenient
appointment and bring their furry family member to the Beltagh Avenue
animal shelter.
Accompanying the chip is a lifetime registration, ensuring that
whether a pet gets out today, tomorrow or 10 years from now, he or she
can be brought home safely.
A survey of Long Island animal shelters has found that the
Hempstead program is the most cost-effective for pet owners, as many
shelters charge a hefty fee (many times double the town's) for the
implant alone, with the necessary lifetime registration coming at an
additional cost.
"When pets come into our shelter with no collar or identification,
many times they wind up separated from their owner for months or even
longer. We have succeeded in shortening the duration of the pets' stay
at our animal shelter with our 'Summer of Love' and 'Home for the
Holidays' adoption programs. Likewise, I am confident that we will see
a higher success rate in reuniting lost pets with owners more quickly
because of this program," concluded Murray. "And that's not only good
for the town and pet owners, but the pets themselves who really are
only looking for a loving home."
