There is nothing more heart-wrenching—or potentially avoidable—than a lost pet. That’s why the American Veterinary

Medical Association (AVMA) and the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) teamed up to create Check the Chip Day on August 15.

The purpose of the annual event is to remind pet owners to make sure their pets’ microchip registration information is current or, if they don’t have a chip, to get one for their pets.

Check the Chip Day is also an invitation to practices to raise awareness with their clients—in conversations, social media posts, and marketing efforts—about the importance of chips and up-to-date registration information.

To that end, the AVMA offers a downloadable flyer, a Facebook page with reunion stories, and ideas for raising awareness in your practice.

To alleviate the guesswork for veterinary hospitals, animal control facilities, and shelter staff members, AAHA also offers the AAHA Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool. It includes a searchable database linked to the registries of many microchip manufacturers.