Took him to the vet, they scanned him and gave me his tracking chip number. That led me down the rabbit hole. There are 50+ services out there. Some are free, some are not (where you have to pay to update your address!? so very scammy).
Some websites are well designed, some are a train wreck. Some are connected to the American Animal Hospital Association [1] (which seems to be a central database, which then searches some subset of the total number of databases).
There also seems to be a whole paranoia about these chips [2], which I find fascinating. It is right up there with the Bill Gates vaccine tracking chip.
All in all, this seems like a complete mess that is ripe for disruption. If my dog is lost, finding his tracking number might depend on what database is searched! Registering for a bunch of sites also seems like a weird thing to do. What is your experience with this HN?
[1] https://www.aaha.org/your-pet/pet-microchip-lookup/microchip-search/
[2] https://www.foundanimals.org/microchip-register/#microchip-and-register
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microchip_implant_(animal)
Difficulties in identifying a lost pet through its microchip
It can be challenging to identify a lost pet through its microchip. Not every scanner is capable of reading every chip, as even the best scanners miss some chips. The main issues are patent protection, business interests, and politics. It can also be difficult to ascertain which registry service archives the pet's identifying information. The American Animal Hospital Association Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool is an internet-based application to assist in the identification of those registries to which a particular microchip is registered, or otherwise provide the chip's manufacturer. Due to AAHA's effort, it is easier to figure out which registry keeps the animal's identifying information through a microchip search site. By searching the databases of participating companies, the tool provides useful information. To protect owners' privacy, it will not return pet owner information contained in the registries' databases. Instead, it will display which registries should be contacted when a lost pet is scanned, and its microchip number is identified. However, since not all microchip registry companies are involved in this tool, it is missing a significant databank of Avid Identification System Inc.Until this thread I haven't been sure what would happen if the cat is actually lost and gets scanned at a shelter or vet after being found.
Having just looked it up, I see that for cats there is a single organization which registers microchipped cats. Registration is free and highly encouraged by vets, shelters, and breeders. I'm going to check my cats' chip numbers tomorrow to make sure the info is up to date, but I imagine they're tied to my "person number", which would make it pretty easy for a vet to track me down if they're found.
For dogs, an ID chip is apparently required by law; dogs and the human responsible for them are registered in a central register run by the Board of Agriculture.
So at first glance luckily there doesn't seem to be too much confusion with registration databases in my area from what I can see.
Might get us out of this password hell (I can’t remember shit now days).
Agreed. Am not usually one for "Facebook for Pets" type ideas. But a Google Cloud for Pet Microchipping sounds like a home run. Honestly, just sounds like a fun hardware and software space to work on. From startup perspective, seems like they would capture very powerful data sets as well if they get active pet location tracking ;)