Vet Richard Hurley with Ruth O’Connell who is on work experience at the practice in Rock Street/Brewery Road. Photo by Gavin O’Connor
TRALEE dog owners are being urged to ‘Chip It Check It’ as part of a nationwide ‘National Chipping Month’ campaign during September.
The initiative highlights the benefits of microchipping pets and reminds pet owners to make sure that telephone numbers and contact details are up to date and correctly registered for their microchipped pet.
There are hundreds of offers for free or cut-price microchipping available during the month.
“The dogs should be chipped because if they go missing they can be traced back to the owner or if they are stolen you can identify that the dog is yours,” said Richard Hurley of Hurley’s Veterinary in Rock Street/Brewery Road.
If anyone wants to bring their dog abroad they will have to get a microchip as the chip acts as a passport.
One of the main reasons people are reluctant to get their dogs chipped is because of the cost.
“We charge €42 for each chip, but it’s a once off cost. Once it is done it is there for life,” said Richard.
“If a person sees the one-off fee as too much, we can spread the cost over 12 months which would make the cost of the chip less than a euro a week,” said Richard.
“If it makes finding their pet easier, it is worth because if we find the dog and it is not chipped, the owner could come in a few days later and ends up with a bill for 30 or 40 euro for board,” said Richard.
“The cost is worth it, if you value your pet. If it goes missing it will give you peace of mind that it can be found,” he said.
