Dog micro chip scanner app for I-phone??

[shinyhappy68 10]

What if Apple had an app that you could scan a lost dog for a chip, therefore reunite dog with owner asap. A bit like the barcode scanner?? Pros and cons? Just a random thought I had

Edited August 27, 2011 by shinyhappy68

[growup 10]

how would that work? The barcode scanner uses a photo and the numbers on the bottom. You can't take a picture of a dog and tell if it's got a microchip inside.

[maryjane 11]

patent it, thats a fab idea.

[cheese 69 10]

growup is right, its a good idea but wouldnt work

[Gluggy 10]

growup is right, its a good idea but wouldnt work

 

True but what if you could interface the actual "sensor" that reads the chip with a hand held computer that has real time access to the central database that holds all the info concerning that chip / dog? Could issue them to the dog wardens etc allowing them to contact the owner of a chip dog and return it directly to them without having to take the dog back to the pound etc, not only would less admin / cost be involved it would be better for dog.

 

Of course i bet such a product already exists but if not, whoever does patent it just remember you read it here first and mines a pint or at least a good few years worth

[Lotti 10]

I'd be a bit concerned about that to be honest.

 

Currently, I know that if my dog is found by someone else and taken to a vet/shelter etc to be scanned, the vet will get in touch with me and give me the details for the people who have found her or I can pick her up from the vets...

 

If people could scan for a chip, can you imagine how easy it'd be to check a dog had a chip, steal it and then call the owners demanding a ransom? AFAIK petlog won't give details out to just anyone - they have to be registered to be given chip details.

 

Perhaps a scanner that would allow you to ring the chip company and give the number on the chip and your details so that the chip company can then pass your details onto the owners dog would be a good idea - but I wouldn't want just anyone to be able to access my details I think it'd be far too easy to take dogs ransom.

 

Of course... all of the above is also possible using the dog's tag...

[Gluggy 10]

I'd be a bit concerned about that to be honest.

 

Currently, I know that if my dog is found by someone else and taken to a vet/shelter etc to be scanned, the vet will get in touch with me and give me the details for the people who have found her or I can pick her up from the vets...

 

If people could scan for a chip, can you imagine how easy it'd be to check a dog had a chip, steal it and then call the owners demanding a ransom? AFAIK petlog won't give details out to just anyone - they have to be registered to be given chip details.

 

Perhaps a scanner that would allow you to ring the chip company and give the number on the chip and your details so that the chip company can then pass your details onto the owners dog would be a good idea - but I wouldn't want just anyone to be able to access my details I think it'd be far too easy to take dogs ransom.

 

Of course... all of the above is also possible using the dog's tag...

 

Confess to having no knowledge of how the current chipping system works but do see what you mean, although it would go without saying that access to the database or indeed the actual sale of the scanner in the first place would be limited to vets, council pounds and other approved users.

 

Was all just theory and messing with the idea anyway but should such a system ever come in to play, in the right hands it might make the whole process of dealing with chipped strays rather more streamlined that it seems to be at the moment.

[shinyhappy68 10]

Confess to having no knowledge of how the current chipping system works but do see what you mean, although it would go without saying that access to the database or indeed the actual sale of the scanner in the first place would be limited to vets, council pounds and other approved users.

 

Was all just theory and messing with the idea anyway but should such a system ever come in to play, in the right hands it might make the whole process of dealing with chipped strays rather more streamlined that it seems to be at the moment.

 

Yeah i have no idea either and like you said just a theory i was messing with. Appreciate the feedback though thanks xx

[Rainrescue 10]

I think its a great idea and one that can certainly be pursued tbh.

 

The microchip system at the moment is terrible. For us in rescue, its one of the worst admin jobs that '**** up ' and 'brewery' have invented.

 

Its an absolutely pathetic system - where numbers are held on multiple databases - none of whom who own these databases talk to each other.

Even I - who work with chipping every day - know who to contact - and end up chasing them round all the time. I have 2 pin codes, and still can't work out which one is with which company. Its totally pathetic. Because nobody is making lots of money out of it - nobody bothers.

 

What it should have in microchipping is one central database that regulated bodies can access.

 

So - if there was to be an app - that would be great - all it would do is tell you that you can scan a dog - read its micro-chip and tell you what number to phone for that specific number. The 'finder' can just log their telephone number into the database as the finder. Then if the owner phones up and reports the dog as missing (which usually they don't because 75% of owners haven't a record of their dogs microchip details), but if they did - they would then find out where the dog was.

 

It should never be that the finder is given the owners contact details - only a vet or an implanter or a rescue centre can do them - because we are all auditted and monitored.

 

So - worth pursuing maybe?

[Rainrescue 10]

For info - anyone who doesn't know.

 

A microchip is a small metal object that is implanted in between the shoulders of a pet. Dog or cat. When the pet is chipped, the implanter (groomer, vet, rescue centre or qualified implanter), writes to the database owner for that specific chip and registers the owners mobile no., and address and the dogs information. That is held centrally.

 

Should a person find a dog, a scanner is used - which reads the number (very much like a bar code). Phones 1 of 4 database companies, gives them the number, and then we receive the last registered owners contact details.

 

More often than not - the owner has moved and not changed their information - so the dog is then 'un-owned'. If a dog is picked up as a stray with no microchip - the dog is only held for 7 days before it faces its fate. If its microchipped - the council who finds the dog will write to the last registered keeper on the microchip - giving the dog a further 7 days grace before it faces its fate.

 

If we as a rescue centre get in a dog that is chipped - we change ownership of its previous owner to us at the rescue - and then when we rehome the dog - pass registered keeper information onto the new owner.

[shinyhappy68 10]

I think its a great idea and one that can certainly be pursued tbh.

 

The microchip system at the moment is terrible. For us in rescue, its one of the worst admin jobs that '**** up ' and 'brewery' have invented.

 

Its an absolutely pathetic system - where numbers are held on multiple databases - none of whom who own these databases talk to each other.

Even I - who work with chipping every day - know who to contact - and end up chasing them round all the time. I have 2 pin codes, and still can't work out which one is with which company. Its totally pathetic. Because nobody is making lots of money out of it - nobody bothers.

 

What it should have in microchipping is one central database that regulated bodies can access.

 

So - if there was to be an app - that would be great - all it would do is tell you that you can scan a dog - read its micro-chip and tell you what number to phone for that specific number. The 'finder' can just log their telephone number into the database as the finder. Then if the owner phones up and reports the dog as missing (which usually they don't because 75% of owners haven't a record of their dogs microchip details), but if they did - they would then find out where the dog was.

 

It should never be that the finder is given the owners contact details - only a vet or an implanter or a rescue centre can do them - because we are all auditted and monitored.

 

So - worth pursuing maybe?

 

Hmm you given me food for thought now lol x