Sixty-five cats and dogs that fall under the borders of the North Bay and District Humane Society will have an easier time reconnecting with their owners in the event they become lost.
The society has outfitted the felines and canines with microchips at its first ever Barkfest Microchip Day, an event the society says was filled with other activities.
Liam Cullen, the executive director of the society, says in addition to the pets, about 200 people showed up.
Cullen says of the 65 pets to receive an implant, 70 percent were dogs and the remainder were cats.
He says equipping pets with a chip is easy.
“The chip is the size of a grain of rice,” Cullen said.
“It’s put into a needle-type device and inserted in between the shoulders of the dog or cat. Then the microchip number is registered with the provider and if the pet comes to us, we scan it for a chip and contact the provider. They give us the information on the owner who we then can contact.”
Cullen says the system’s universality helps lost pets get back to their home even when they’re not from the area.
He recalls a recent incident where a person found a pet walking on the highway near Callander and turned it over to the North Bay office.
Cullen says the animal had a chip which indicated it was from the Sundridge-South River area after contacting the provider.
He says in less than five minutes the society knew who the pet owners were, called them and they made the trip to North Bay to retrieve their lost pet.
Cullen says because of the success of Barkfest Microchip Day, the society plans to hold the events twice a year, once in the spring and the second in early September.
