All 33 of Best Friends Veterinary Group’s practices are participating in the Dogs Trust’s Microchipping Through Vets Scheme and will be offering free microchipping to all dogs for the next 12 months.

Any dog owner can contact these vets to have their dog chipped for free. Implantation takes just a few moments and is done using a special type of syringe to place the microchip, which is smaller than a grain of rice, under the loose skin of a dog’s neck.

Microchipping of dogs is set to become compulsory in England from April 2016, so this is a great opportunity for anyone with a non-microchipped dog to get it done for free, ensuring that should they be parted with their dog at any point, they can be reunited as quickly as possible.

Elvira Meucci-Lyons, Head of Campaigns & Community at Dogs Trust, explains: “Last year 111,986 stray and abandoned dogs were picked up by Local Authorities across the UK, with only 40% reunited with their owners. We hope this initiative will help to reduce the number of dogs put to sleep in council pounds because their owners cannot be traced. We are therefore delighted that so many Vets in the Peterborough area have joined the Microchipping Through Vets Campaign.”

Pets can go missing for a many reasons; they can become scared by fireworks, thunderstorms and even road works invoking their animal fight or flight instincts, they can be injured and not be able to get home, or simply wander too far from home and get lost.

If microchipped vets and local authorities can quickly identify a pet’s owner and return the pet home with least stress to the animal caused. When pets are not microchipped they usually end up in a re-homing centre or worse, as due to a lack of space some centres are forced with the heartbreaking reality of having to put healthy animals to sleep, and no pet lover ever wants that.

For more information visit http://www.bestfriendsgroup.com