Microchip company closes unexpectedly: What it means for pet owners, veterinary practices

Texas-based pet microchip service Save This Life closed abruptly this week. The move prompted veterinary practices and shelters across the country to post alerts on their social media platforms. Unfortunately, this caused further confusion and concern among pet owners. The company was also removed from AAHA’s popular Microchip Registry Lookup tool.

What’s at stake

Save This Life was one of the dozens of companies that participate in the AAHA Pet Recovery Service registry. The registry allows the lookup tool to search companies’ databases for registered chip numbers. The unexplained closure of the company means that pets who were registered with the provider no longer have their owners’ information attached to the chip’s identifier number.

AAHA posted on the lookup tool page that Save This Life chip information was disconnected from the registry database. AAHA advises pet owners to contact their veterinarian with any questions.

AAHA’s connection

AAHA maintains a connection to more than three dozen pet microchip providers. According to AAHA Chief Value Officer Keith Chamberlain, AAHA removed Save This Life a few days ago after it came to light that searches for the company were failing.

“We immediately tried to reach Save This Life to learn what was happening,” Chamberlain said. “Unfortunately, phone lines were down, and email inquiries came back stating Save This Life staff were aware of the problem and working through the issues. After continued search failures, we made the decision to disconnect them from the AAHA search tool, and we are encouraging pet owners to contact their veterinarian to determine if they need to re-register their microchip with another registry.”

Next steps

Pet owners should take quick action to ensure their pet is registered with a legitimate provider in case their pet goes missing. The easiest way to do this is to recommend pet parents get their pet scanned at their local veterinary practice. Once that’s done, the number that comes up can be used on AAHA’s Microchip Registry Lookup tool. Many news articles about Save This Life’s closure have also linked to the registry. The tool can be used to search for and identify what company a pet’s microchip is registered with.

If practices know they have chipped patients with Save This Life chips, they can contact clients to let them know of the company’s status. They can also offer help registering with a new provider if necessary. At least one company, BuddyID, was temporarily offering free registration for pet owners impacted by the Save This Life closure.

The why behind the close

It was unclear why the company suddenly shuttered its doors. But on the Texas Secretary of State’s website, the company has a registration status of “inactive.” The listing also says that the company has lost its right to do business in Texas because its “Franchise Tax Involuntarily Ended.” According to the Secretary of State’s site, this means that “the entity’s registration or certificate was ended as a result of a tax forfeiture or an administrative forfeiture by Texas Secretary of State.”

Calls to the company’s customer service line were not answered. The number appeared to be not in service.

Photo credit: dardespot via E+ Getty Images 

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