The Moose Jaw Humane Society wrapped up the first iteration of its microchipping clinic at the shelter in August, and director Dana Haukaas is very pleased with the interest shown in the new program.
The clinic ran for the entire month of August and shelter staff microchipped 226 pets in total. Haukaas said the staff were kept quite busy, between the large amount of interest from pet owners in the clinic and the regular duties at the shelter.
“It’s so important for us to get pets home to their owners as quickly as possible, when they come in. It’s not that we’re a terrible place but it is new and scary, and you’re without your family,” said Haukaas.
Microchipping is a fairly new service offered at the Humane Society, beginning in January of 2019, and this was the first time the shelter has offered a special event to promote the importance of pet identification.
The clinic offered the service at a reduced rate, to help encourage more pet owners to consider microchipping their pets.
“We really wanted to reach out as many people in this month as possible,” said Haukaas. “And it went off great.”
The shelter will continue offering microchipping at its regular rate, which is $30 per animal, and Haukaas hopes to see even more local pet owners consider bringing their furry friends in to help make identifying lost animals easier.
“It’s really frustrating for us when a pet comes in and we know it, but we see so many pets and it's easy to get them mixed up so unless you know the person who owns the pet or the pet's name, it’s really hard to search them in the database,” said Haukaas. “And it’s so important to us because it's our goal, any time a stray animal comes in, to get them home as quickly as possible.”
