AUSTIN, Texas – A Texas-based pet microchip company has ceased operations, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts website.
As of 5:54 a.m. Wednesday, the website lists the north Austin company Save This Life as having its franchise tax involuntarily ended. This means the microchip company was ended as a result of tax forfeiture or an administrative forfeiture from the Texas Secretary of State, the website said.
If your pet was knowingly or unknowingly registered with this company, the microchip is no longer registered and cannot be traced.
Save This Life’s website, which is still up as of this writing, is distributed by Covetrus, which the company claims is the biggest veterinary distribution company in the world.
On Covetrus’ website, it lists 5100+ veterinarians in its network, which could potentially mean millions of pets are affected by this closure.
Users on Reddit have noted that while the site is still up and pet owners can log in, the “contact pet parent” function does not work and the chip is unregistered, according to the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), which keeps track of all active microchips.
Animal Rescuers Without Borders (ARWOB), a nonprofit out of San Diego, posted on Facebook about what to do if you have a microchipped pet.
The first thing to do is to check your pet’s microchip number. You can get this from adoption contracts or medical records. You can also call your pet’s vet clinic or get it scanned at a veterinarian’s office.
Once you have the number, you can look it up on the AAHA’s Microchip Registry Lookup Tool. This will tell you if your pet’s microchip is registered with an active database.
According to the post, if the pet’s microchip starts with 900164 or 991, it likely is from Save This Life. If your pet is registered with the former microchip company, you need to register the chip with another provider in order to keep your pet traceable.
The post listed some reputable options, including the following:
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PetLink
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AKC Reunite
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HomeAgain
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24PetWatch
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Found Animals (free registration offered)
As an additional tip, pet owners are advised to keep their contact information updated, whether for a new registry or an old one. The post said a microchip is only effective if the contact details are accurate and the registration is active.
“Taking these steps will help ensure your pet’s safety and increase the chances of a happy reunion if they ever go missing,” the post said.
ARWOB went on to say that using multiple forms of identification, such as ID tags and collars displaying contact information, are ideal to ensure your pet is found if they are ever lost.
On Wednesday, San Antonio Animal Care Services urged local pet owners to confirm their pets are legally microchipped and registered.
SAACS confirmed in a news release that the closure does not impact companion animals microchipped through SAACS.
“All information provided for those pets remains in the City of San Antonio’s secure database,” the release says, in part.
“A pet’s microchip can be found in their veterinary records or by an owner having their pet scanned at a veterinary clinic or through SAACS,” the release continued.
Any pets with a Save This Life microchip ID can be re-registered by owners or have their existing contact information updated by emailing SAACS at ACScustomerservice@sanantonio.gov.
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