Microchipping your pet is a quick procedure that can ensure your pet will be returned to you if lost.

It involves a 5 minute appointment with the vet, although many people get it done while their pet is being anaesthetised for another procedure such as desexing or ear-cleaning. Your pet will be given a unique number, which will be sent to a central animal register with all your contact details. All the registers "talk" to each other.

The technique involves a simple injection between the shoulders and hey presto! the microchip (which is the size of a grain of rice) is permanently in place.

You, as the owner, will be given the bar code details and all contact information for the register. You are asked to keep all your information with the central register up-to-date, as it is very sad to find a microchipped animal but not be able to trace the owner.