Microchipping your pet is very important. A microchip is a permanent method of electronic identification. The chip itself is very small – about the size of a grain of rice – and is implanted just under the skin, between the shoulder blades at the back of your pet’s neck. Each chip has a unique number that is detected using a microchip scanner. The microchip number is recorded on a database registry with details about the animal and owner. Should your pet stray or become lost, authorised scanners such as vets, animal shelters, and local councils can scan your pet for a microchip and contact you via the database.
It is very important to keep your contact details up to date on the database so that you will be contactable in the event of your pet becoming lost/stray, even if you move house or change your phone number.
If a pet is transferred to a new owner, the new owner must ensure their contact details are recorded on the database.
If your pet becomes lost, then you are far more likely to be reunited if he or she is microchipped, as long as your contact details are up to date.
To check or change your contact details you need to know the database that lists your pet’s microchip number so that you may contact them directly. Some registries provide Change of Address forms on their websites.
Your pet’s microchip could be registered on one of the seven microchip registries currently active in Australia – five private and two state government:
- Australasian Animal Registry
- Central Animal Records
- Petsafe
- HomeSafeID
- Global Micro
- NSW Government registry – the NSW Companion Animal Registry
- SA Government registry – Dogs and Cats Online (DACO)
To find where your pet’s microchip is registered (if you do not already know), you can start by searching Pet Address using your pet’s microchip number. Pet Address searches the Australasian Animal Registry, Central Animal Records, and PetSafe and, if your pet’s microchip is registered on one of these, it will redirect you to the database that lists your pet’s microchip number so that you may contact them directly.
If you cannot find your pet’s registry by searching on Pet Address, please contact your vet or microchip implanter to find out which database your pet is listed in.
If you are in NSW and cannot find your pet’s registry on Pet Address, try contacting the NSW registry – the NSW Companion Animal Registry.
If you are in SA and cannot find your pet’s registry on Pet Address, try contacting the SA registry – Dogs and Cats Online.
If you have a greyhound and you cannot find their microchip details on any of the above registries or Pet Address, please check the GRV Microchip Registry as some greyhounds may only be registered on that registry.
All Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV)-registered greyhounds are microchipped and registered on the GRV Microchip Registry as puppies, and this includes both racing greyhounds in the care of GRV registered participants, and retired greyhounds that have been re-homed into the community. GRV does not subscribe to Pet Address at this time and so, if the microchip number you are looking for belongs to a greyhound, and the number is not listed on any of the Pet Address affiliated microchip registries please check the GRV Microchip Registry.
