This story is taken from the Dallas Morning News on December of 2008.  On Christmas eve of 2008 a Dallas police officer found an injured dog on the side of the road with no identification tags. The officer took her to the nearest animal hospital.  Most pets in this situation with no identification would be euthanized. The vet scanned the dog which revealed the name and address of the owner. The dog was named Coaster and the owners were very happy to have him home in time for Christmas.  Micro chips are tiny glass cylinders about the size of a grain of rice.  They contain a radio transmitter and a tiny computer with a identification number.  When the scanner is passed over the chip, it sends out a signal picked up by the chips antenna. The indentification number is sent to the radio transmitter and then to the scanner where information  appears on a computer screen. Micro chips are inserted by a vet with a needle. They are placed beneath the skin over the shoulder blades. They remain there for the life of the pet. The procedure is very quick and completely painless to your pet. I had this done with my cat Millie. She’s a little fiesty and once did get out of our porch at our place in Delaware. Luckily I spotted her right away!  Micro chips bring home many dogs and cats. The drawbacks are non universal scanning and some owners worry about a risk for cancer which is extremely minimal. So if your dog breaks loose from his dog leash but is micro chipped, there is a good chance that you’ll get a call from the vet who scanned your dog!