New resource will help residents identify lost pets and reunite them with their families

The City of Camden is offering a new resource to help lost pets find their way home with the installation of a self-service microchip scanner station at Rectory Square.

Available to the public 24 hours a day, the station allows someone who finds a lost pet to safely scan the animal for a microchip. If a chip is detected, the scanner will display its unique identification number, which can then be used to identify the appropriate microchip registry and begin the process of contacting the pet’s owner.

The new scanner station was made possible in part through a contribution from Camden City Councilman William Wilkes.

“While Camden may be best known for our horses, we care deeply about all our four-legged residents. We want to make it as easy as possible for lost pets to find their way home,” said Wilkes. “We hope no one ever faces that moment, but when the unthinkable happens, this new microchip scanner station will provide a simple, accessible resource available 24/7 to help reunite families with the animals they love as quickly as possible. It’s one more way we’re working to care for our community and the pets that are such
an important part of it.”

Step-by-step instructions at the station guide users through scanning a pet and determining what to do if a microchip is found. A microchip is not a GPS or tracking device. It provides a permanent identification number connected to the contact information registered by the pet’s owner.

Pet owners are encouraged to have their pets microchipped and to keep their registration information current. A microchip can only help reunite a lost pet with its family when the correct contact information is associated with it.