What is Microchipping?

The Imperial County Animal Control Department strongly recommends that pet owners consider Micro chipping their pets, in addition to a current dog license and identification tag. You can discuss micro chipping with your local Veterinarian.

Micro chipping serves many purposes:

It provides an opportunity to reunite pets and owners quickly. Animal Control Officers will be provided with "wands" with which to scan for microchips. If a microchip is located, the wand will provide owner and address information and the owner will contacted.

In addition to quickly reuniting animals and owners, the ability to identify animals by microchip will also assist the section by saving space, food, time, and effort that are often expended on animals being held in the facility.

Recent weather related incidents have demonstrated that animals can be quickly separated from their homes and owners and, often times, at a separation of great distances. Microchipping has helped in some of those scenarios, such as during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, by identifying animals and their owners quickly and reuniting them safely with minimal cost, time and effort.

Last modified 02/13/2024 at 4:55 PM