We know this because Seth carried his details with him. A microchip the size of a grain of rice in his neck carried a code that could be read by a radio scanner. This code in turn referred back to his owner's details, held on the NSW State Government's Companion Animals Database. Luckily for Seth his owner's address was still up-to-date, so after a short stay at the Tamworth pound he was shipped back to Goulbourn.
Microchipping pets is by no means a new idea. Introduced in Australia in the late 1980s, the technology promised to prevent the needless euthanasia of pets and to assist pounds, vets and RSPCAs throughout the country in quickly locating animal owners.
However, over a decade later, a centralised, secure and readily accessible database -- which should form the backbone of companion animal microchipping -- has yet to be created. Multiple chip standards, a combination of commercial and government databases, poorly managed data entry and validation processes, as well as legal inconsistencies between states, combine to frustrate attempts to reunite animals with their owners.
Amanda Rennie, manager of the Blue Mountains Pet Shop located on the outskirts of Sydney, points out that although she is bound by law to microchip puppies, she is unconvinced the technology is fulfilling its stated goals.
-Pet shops and breeders get caught in the web, we are forced to microchip puppies so the council can keep track of them," Rennie said. -But then when you call to report an animal is missing, there is still nothing they can do."
Monica Biernacki, managing director of animal welfare group Doggie Rescue, is similarly opined.
-Things have improved slightly when it comes to returning pets to their owners, but only by about four percent," Biernacki said. According to Biernacki, there are still all sorts of problems, including addresses typed in incorrectly, it taking three or four weeks to process the data at the council, people moving house and not updating their address, duplicate microchip numbers out there, and pets with more than one microchip. Simple things, she said, like scanners being low on batteries and not picking up the chip are also a problem.
Digging up the past
Back in 1989, Rick Walduck, a vet with a penchant for programming, created a database that enabled codes contained on microchips to refer back to pet owner information. He used this as the basis for the launch of his company, Microchip Australia. Working in conjunction with various animal protection groups and veterinary associations, Walduck managed to raise the profile of the technology.
"The database I initially designed has gone through many generations and it is really specific software with a range of error checking capabilites," Walduck said.
Having received endorsement from the registry watchdog, Domestic Animal Registries (DAR), in October 1998, the Central Animal Records (CAR) database provides national coverage and is gaining the attention of animal protection societies in Canada and New Zealand.
Since 1998 the registry has assisted in returning 33,295 pets to their owners, and has gone through multiple technology upgrades to ensure the information is secure, easy to access, and capable of accepting a range of data types.
Having grown organically and working in conjunction with counterparts in other states, such as the South Australian dog and cat registries, the CAR database provides national coverage and enables vets, councils and animal welfare groups to access the information it contains.
"Our basic modus operandi is that the pet owner also owns their data," Walduck said. "Similarly, at the point that anyone provides information to us, we guarentee its security and provide an assurance that it won't be used for commercial purposes."
Walduck, however, wasn't the only one with the idea of creating a database to support pet microchip technology.
The NSW Royal Agricultural Society launched its own microchip-tracking database in 1991. Operating as a not-for-profit venture, the Australian Animals Registry (AAR) contains listings for all manner of pets, from budgerigars to goldfish.
"If you can chip it we will record it," quipped Pat Cooper, administration and marketing manager for the registry.
Averaging 1000 to 1500 registrations per week and up to 50 changes of address per day, the database provides national coverage and offers authorised users access to the data 24x7, including public holidays.
"Our vets and users can access the database using a code if they come across an injured or stray animal, or the owner of the pet can call through directly and change their details," Cooper said. "The biggest problem is people not keeping their details up-to-date."
Hugh Southwood, managing director of Veterinary Marketing Network, which operates yet another microchip database by the name of Petsafe, believes pet owners are lulled into a false sense of security by the presence of the microchip, and remain largely unaware of the database debacle going on behind the scenes.
-Our key motivation for launching Petsafe was the fact that a large proportion of the information on some of the other databases was invalid," Southwood said. -We sat down with Infobase Systems to create a superior database, complete with data validation, key entry validation and Web-based access to the data, and ended up with 1.6 gigabytes of proprietary software."
Launched in 2000, the Petsafe database holds a couple of hundred thousand listings,according to Southwood, and is growing through partnerships with microchip distributors and veterinary associations.
