Pet owners encouraged to keep microchips and medallions up to date
The pandemic turned many Quebecers into animal owners, as people sought ways to battle loneliness while they isolated and quarantined in their homes, but it has also increased the number of cases related to lost or stolen animals.
Zack Painter, a former employee at the Animal Nutrition Centre in Lennoxville, said that while animal theft has always been a problem in the province, it has spiked in the last year because more people want animals, and a lack of availability has seen prices skyrocket.
“You have a scenario where animal prices, let’s say purebreds, are a lot more expensive now. The laws and things towards animals are sometimes dicey, so a lot of times theft is very common,” said Painter.
According to Painter, it is not just purebreds, but any type of dog is in high demand right now. Backyard breeders are also swamped with demands, so people with bad intentions take this opportunity to steal animals and sell them quickly for profit.
“It is extremely disgusting personally and a lot of these pages on Facebook and Kijiji have these rules that they are not supposed to put on live animals, but they still do anyways,” said Painter.
The 23-year-old is currently moving to Waterville. He said both his animals have medallions and a microchip in the back of their necks in order to protect them from theft. And in the event they ever get lost, it helps him track them down. This is the best solution, he explained.
“When I was working at the Animal Nutrition Centre for years, so many people lost their animals. It had a medallion, but the information was extremely out of date, so there is no way to contact the animal’s owner,” said Painter.
He told The Record that in his experience, many people forget to update their animals’ medallions, and if they have a microchip, they often fail to change the contact information when they move homes, or get a new phone number.
Painter worked at the nutrition centre for almost seven years. He stopped volunteering and tending to the storefront when the pandemic erupted in Quebec. He also lived above the centre, and during his time there he witnessed many people trying to steal animals.
“I have had multiple times people trying to open the fence and get my dog or get my cat and there have been
times at that store […] people have put the animals in the car to try and drive away with them, but we were lucky enough to stop them,” Painter said.
It is very discouraging to see an uptick in animal theft or missing animals, he added, people are either trying to sell them or they think the animal has no owner. He reiterated that this problem can be avoided if people keep their medallions updated, or insert a microchip.
It is not painful for the animal, he said about the microchip, and it lasts for a lifetime. It also is not a GPS. Painter explained that when a lost animal is brought into a shelter, a clinic, or any pet-oriented business, the microchip is scanned and the owner is called right away.
But Painter stressed the importance of making sure the information is correct, and unfortunately many people forget about it.
He also added that with the province opening up again, shelters will likely see more animals filling their kennels.
“In my personal opinion, right now, in Covid, a lot of people are at home now, a lot of people are spending time at home, but we can’t forget when life gets back to normal as we’re seeing, you’re going to see these kennels, SPAS, start getting packed again,” said Painter.
Eastern Townships SPA Spokesperson Tamara Neeley said she noticed a lot more phone calls this year from distressed animal owners. There were a few publicized animal thefts in the media, she continued, which created some panic.
However, she added that it has calmed down in the past few months. But she also reiterated Painter’s thoughts on keeping up to date information. According to Neeley, all of the animals at the SPA are microchipped, and they run awareness campaigns for animal owners.
“All of our pets here that are adopted are microchipped by us if they were not before, but of course we strongly believe in having your animal microchipped it’s just an extra security for your animal,” said Neeley.
Although there are more cases of lost or stolen animals, she does not associate it with an owners’ inexperience. It does not take 15 minutes to adopt an animal from the SPA, she said, they conduct a thorough background check, so they trust everyone who adopts an animal.
Right now the SPA has one dog in its shelter, several cats, and rabbits. When they do receive a lost animal, they keep it for at least three days. If no one has claimed the animal, they start the process to put the animal up for adoption. An owner can still make a claim, though.
“I can say it is very rare, very, very rare that at this point someone will come forward, but if they do of course they will be able to have their animal back, definitely,” said Neeley.