It has been brought to GAL’s attention that one of the new microchips introduced this year has moved.
Because the chip has small hooks on it, the dog in question is having it removed because of the risk of it moving to the bone and attaching, which would be very uncomfortable.
We are still establishing whether this chip is specific to one vet, but in the meantime, if your dog is at the vet please ask them to check the chip is still where it should be.
Please PM me if you are concerned.
Marie

This was discussed at the Scottish Parliament Cross-party group for animal welfare during a presentation by Dogs Trust who want compulsory chipping for all cats and dogs. Chips may migrate in animals with low body fat ie horses, greyhounds, some pups, and as you point out, can pose problems if they migrate to joints particularly. The DT rep claims chip migration is fairly rare, and one way to avoid this is by using intramuscular chips, which horses have, which obviously must be carried out by a vet and is a more complex procedure than standard chipping. However, compulsory chipping of racing greyhounds has been introduced in England/Wales, and it will be useful to monitor their experiences of this, whether it leads to more hounds being discarded, or indeed unscrupulous removal of chips along with tattooed ears.

I should add Shawfield has also introduced compulsory chipping this year and is backdating it through registered dogs.
The dog in question was not chipped at Shawfield however.
Marie

Hi,

We had a problem with Ollie having a “disappearing” chip. Since we got him 20 months ago, there has never been any reading when he was scanned. I must admit, I was very concerned that it too may have migrated into somewhere it shouldnt, but we finally came to the conclusion it had more likely worked itself out at some point.

I had the bold boy re-chipped last month before his annual holiday at the kennels, but would recommend that folks get their vets to check for the chip at least at every annual booster vaccination.

Angela & co.

That’s a very good idea Angela and something vets can do easily in a few seconds.
The dog whose chip moved was Lucy, or the Robroyston runaway as she is known,  and she had been receiving extensive grooming to remove her thick kennel coat which may have contributed to it moving.
it was safely removed without the need for any stitches and a new one put in.
Marie