Orphaned Pet Animals From Hurricane Katrina Getting Micro-Chipped

Report from Cutting Edge subscriber in New Orleans area

September 29, 2005

Here is an update to my last email to you from Hurricane Country. The URBONO broadcast hosts (wwl.com for streaming broadcast) just took a call from a volunteer for the American Humane Society. She wanted to clarify an error. It seems that a radio announcement went out to the attention of pet owners with lost pets who could attend a 5:30 a.m. meeting on September 30 to discuss recovery of their pets.

It was the infomration that this caller gave about successful recovery of stranded pets that caught my attention. She said that many successful recoveries have occurred, and that the recovery kennel site is overflowing with recovered pets who are put out for adoption and sent to other centers if they are not claimed by their owners. She described how the project works. After recovery, care involves a process of feeding the animals, cleaning and washing them, vaccinating them, and microchipping them.

Of course, you have discussed this RFID microchipping in several of your newsletters, but remember, it was to be voluntary, and initiated by owners who wanted their pets to have them. These thousands of rescued pets in the New Orleans area and the Gulf Coast in general, no doubt, are being microchipped whether the owners want it or not.

I hope that you will find this information useful.