Microchip drive at Nellis Veterinary Treatment Facility Published June 2, 2009 By Capt. Ashley Norris 99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- The Nellis Veterinary Treatment Facility will be open Saturday, June 20 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a microchip drive. They will be administering HomeAgain microchips to military ID holder's cats and dogs on a walk-in basis. Cost is $20 for the first pet and $18 for all subsequent pets. The same microchip downtown will cost at least $25 per pet. The microchips will be registered to the owners and come with a tag, pet ID card and one year of extras, to include lost pet insurance. This is part of a drive by the Nellis VTF staff to get all cats and dogs living in base housing microchipped and registered. They also want to ensure all military members' pets' microchips meet international standards so that if they are lost anywhere in the world, they can be returned home. According to HomeAgain, one in three household pets will get lost during its lifetime and 90 percent never return home. Microchipping drastically increases the chances of a lost pet being identified. The veterinary clinic gets calls all the time about lost pets on base, said Cassidy McClain, the facility manager and animal health technician for the Nellis veterinary clinic. If a lost pet isn't microchipped, the clinic staff turns to their database of base pets and searches for the sex, breed and color of animal and try to find the owner but it can be a long drawn-out process. Currently microchips are not a requirement for pets living in base housing, but the clinic highly recommends them for all pets. "The longest the base clinic can keep an animal is 24 hours," said Ms. McClain. Then we must give the pet to a local shelter, which is only obligated to hold animals for 24-72 hours before putting them up for adoption or euthanizing them. "If a dog is microchipped, then within the same day we can get the dog back to its owner," said McClain, and the same is true for cats. A microchip is approximately the size and shape of a grain of rice and has an enzyme on the microchip that binds it to the fat and prevents the chip from moving around. This is why microchips are a permanent way to identify a pet and more reliable than collars, which can come off. Staff members use a needle to put it in the scruff of the pet's neck, like a shot. The scruff of the neck is a low pain area, said Ms. McClain. Not all microchips distributed meet world-wide standards set by the International Standards Organization. In the United States alone, there are three microchip frequencies in use and most scanners don't read them all. Like most shelters and veterinary clinics, the Nellis clinic has two scanners so they can read all three frequencies, said Ms. McClain. In the past there has been controversy over frequencies, and scanners. Problems have arisen due to older microchips migrating. If owners are unsure if their pet's microchip is ISO-compliant, located in the standard spot, or readable, NVTF will scan pets for free. Ms. McClain suggests that all military families have their pets microchipped, especially if they plan to take their pets overseas. For example, in Japan they have a very strict quarantine policy for pets, she said. For dogs they require two sets of rabies vaccinations after the pet has received an ISO-compliant microchip. That way they are sure that the dog sent overseas is the one who is up-to-date on shots and healthy. All the shots that the dog received before the microchip are immaterial. As a minimum, all residents of base housing must register their cats and dogs. Pet owners living in base housing must inform Nellis AFB Properties that they have a pet within five business days of moving into a house or acquiring a new pet by filling out a pet addendum and policy agreement letter. The pet owner has 10 business days to register their pet with NVTF. If they fail to register their pet, a letter is sent to the military member's first sergeant, said Miranda Tindle, NVTF Receptionist. To register their pet, "all they need to bring is their [military] ID card and the pet's vaccination history," said Ms. Tindle. Base residents are not required to use NVTF services, but they must maintain records that the pet's vaccinations are up-to-date, said Ms. McClain. For more information regarding the registering base pets or the microchip drive, call (702) 652-8836. Vaccinations and check-ups are made by appointment only during regular office hours, Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m.-noon. Microchip scannings are free and welcome as walk-ins. The clinic is located next to the Commissary at 4146 Mountain Home Street.
