Free Pet Microchipping Event in Volcano

The Hawaii County Animal Control and Protection Department is hosting its second free microchipping and licensing event in Volcano on Saturday.

According to Animal Control Administrator Matthew Runnells, about 90% of pets taken in by Animal Control are not microchipped, making it extremely difficult to find owners in most cases.

“One of the key components to providing these owners with faster returns is education about registration, microchipping and registering those microchips,” Runnells said. “If a pet is not microchipped or a microchip is not registered, we have no frame of reference to begin the return process.”

The agency takes in an average of more than 250 animals per month and has 137 spaces for dogs and 42 for cats in the two facilities combined.

The average length of stay for an animal is approximately 45 days, and for 40% of these animals this stay ends in euthanasia.

According to Runnells, pets with registered microchips have a history of going home to their owners and spending an average of only about 48 hours at the facility.

From January 2022, the law requires pet owners to have their dogs and cats implanted with a microchip for identification. Animal welfare organizations must also implant a microchip in all stray dogs and cats in their care that do not have a microchip.

The law also requires owners to register the microchip number, along with their name and current contact information, with a microchip registration company. Hawaii County uses the national registry at my24pet.com.

To reduce the cost of obtaining a microchip for a pet, Animal Control is using a grant to conduct free community microchipping and licensing events at central locations in each county on the island of Hawaii.

The next event is this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Cooper Center in Volcano. Owners are asked to secure their animals before taking them with them.