Simi Residents View Demonstration of New ID Implants for Pets

Simi Valley residents on Monday got their first look at a high-tech implant system that Ventura County Animal Regulation officers will begin using next week to help track down the owners of unidentified dogs and cats that turn up at county shelters.

A glass-encased microchip, about as long as an uncooked grain of rice and thinner than a pencil lead, is placed under the animal’s neck skin by a hypodermic needle. When a scanner is passed over the pet, an identification number pops up on a screen.

County animal control officers can then use computer records to find the pet owner who matches that number, the name of the pet’s veterinarian and a list of any medical problems the animal has.

To call attention to the program, Simi Valley Councilwoman Sandi Webb allowed one of her cats, Breech, to receive an implant during a demonstration at the beginning of Monday’s council meeting, which is shown citywide on cable television.

“I volunteered my cat to show people that it’s safe,” Webb said before the meeting.

Webb said she has four cats, all of whom are allowed to roam outdoors, and a dog. She said she chose Breech, a 12-year-old black-and-white cat, for the demonstration because he is the most docile of her pets.

At the council meeting, Breech stretched out on a table in front of the panel and did not even flinch when Michael Buffum, a West Hills veterinarian, quickly injected the implant.

Kathy Jenks, director of the Ventura County Animal Regulation Department, said that beginning Monday, all pets adopted at county shelters will receive the implants. Area veterinarians will be asked to place them in other pets.

Jenks said her staff, which kills thousands of unidentified dogs and cats each year, hopes to reduce the grim total through this program.

“We’re pushing this for cats in particular,” she said. “People will traditionally put collars and identification tags on their dogs but not on their cats.”

Of the 9,400 cats taken in last year by the county, only 173 were returned to their owners, Jenks said. Animal lovers adopted some of the remaining cats, but more than 7,700 had to be killed after they remained unclaimed at the shelter for more than one week, she said.

Many of these cats could have been saved if county officials knew whom they belonged to, Jenks said. “Our staff is tired of killing needlessly,” she said.

The implant technology is about a decade old and has been used in domestic animals for about five years, said Lindy Harton, a spokeswoman for InfoPet, the equipment supplier. Under its contract with the county, the company has agreed to donate the scanners to county animal shelters and to sell the implants to the shelters for about $5 each.

Harton said several implant systems are on the market, including a rival product that was recently put into use by Orange County animal control officials. InfoPet’s implant is being used in Glendale, Long Beach, several Northern California counties and at 75 zoos, Harton said.

Los Angeles city and county animal control authorities are still considering whether to use implant identification systems.

Harton, based at InfoPet’s California headquarters in Westlake Village, said the insertion is no more painful than an inoculation. Long-term studies have shown that the chip does not migrate in the animal’s body.

The chip has no power source, but acts as an antenna and sends back information when a hand-held scanner directs radio waves at the animal, she said.

InfoPet was selected by Ventura County animal control officials after it submitted the lowest bid.

Jenks said the cost will be included in the county’s $15 pet adoption fee. She predicted that private veterinarians will charge about $45 to insert the implants, with reduced rates for additional pets owned by the same family.

Ventura County Animal Regulation shelters serve all of Ventura County’s cities except Thousand Oaks.