MIDLAND, Texas (KOSA) – A gadget the size of a grain of rice might be the distinction in between discovering your lost family pet or not.
That gadget is a microchip and today is nationwide Check the Chip Day. The day comes in the middle of the death of Luna, a Midland dog who was euthanized prior to her owner might discover her.
“That’s our message. That we don’t want this to happen again,” said Tommy Gonzalez, Midland city supervisor.
Luna reached Midland animal services on Aug. 11.
“We scanned her for a microchip. We did not have one so we did not know she had an owner,” said Melissa Griffin, Midland Animal Services director.
The dog was then immunized, dewormed, microchipped and put in a pod.
Luna’s owner published she was missing out on recently. Her death was revealed the other day. She was euthanized prior to her owner might discover her.
“Again, very unfortunate what occurred and the staff is heartbroken over it,”
Midland Animal Services staff state she had a health problem. The shelter’s vet said there are presently more stringent procedures in the shelter due to an untreatable dog infection making its method throughout the U.S.
“No. We don’t know what kind of infection it was. It appears to be an upper respiratory disease. There is currently an outbreak happening in the last few months,” Veterinarian Christen Bolotov said.
The city will examine Luna’s case.
“The fact that it happened so quickly and it was exposed to that environment, that’s the question that I have, that we have and we’ve been looking at,” Gonzalez said. “I think that the bottom line is that it was a healthy animal when it came in, we think, and that’s the concern.”
Officials state a microchip might have been the option. They said they’re taking a look at methods to provide more budget friendly microchipping services, together with enhancing animal services so this never ever takes place once again.
“We really want everyone in our community to have their pets microchipped so we never have to wonder if this pet does belong to someone,” said Katlyn Walthall, director of neighborhood outreach and fundraising at Fix West Texas.
It’s a fast treatment that is finished by positioning a needle in between the dog’s shoulder blades. It inserts a gadget the size of a grain of rice that refers a tracking number.
Fix West Texas can’t make certain it would’ve saved her life, however to honor Luna, they’re providing pay-what-you-can microchipping this month.
“It’s a tragedy, but my hope is that we can learn from it and share that information on how to keep pets safe, as well as push Midland Animal services to do better,” Walthall said.
Luna’s owner was not available for an on-camera interview.
Officials state the very best method to keep your family pet safe is to microchip, repair and immunize and make certain it is not able to escape.
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