The Town of North Hempstead’s Animal Shelter will be offering free microchips for dogs and cats of town residents on Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The Pet Microchip Clinic is cosponsored by Supervisor Judi Bosworth, the town board and the Animal Shelter’s nonprofit partner The Shelter Connection.
Microchipping allows dogs and cats to be electronically identified through a unique, permanent, tamper-proof identification number, increasing the odds of reuniting them with their owners if they are ever lost or stolen. A chip is as small as a grain of rice and is easily implanted under the skin of the pet. This service is performed for all dogs adopted from the town’s Animal Shelter.
“Having dogs and cats microchipped is a great benefit for pet owners,” said Bosworth. “This free service will give them the peace of mind that if their pet is ever lost, they will still be able to identify them.”
All participants of the clinic will leave with information from PetLink, a tag and microchip identification card with the chip number. In order to be microchipped, all dog owners are required to have a valid license at time of registration and cat owners must show proof of current rabies vaccination certificate (tags alone will not be accepted as proof). All microchips will be administered by a licensed veterinarian and/or licensed veterinary technician.
The North Hempstead Animal Shelter is located at 75 Marino Ave. in Port Washington. Microchips are limited, so preregistration is required. Call 311 or 516-869-6311 to reserve your spot.
