To reduce the number of lost animals that have entered the city’s six shelters and reduce overcrowding, a city council committee will consider a proposal calling for all pets to be microchipped.
The Department of Animal Services now charges $15 for microchip pets and uses the grant to help cover fees for residents who cannot afford it.
Animals recruited by city shelters have been registered and microchips are also registered.
Animal data discovered by Michelson shows that there are around 2.4 million pets in Los Angeles households. An estimated 25% of these pets are microchipped, with about 600,000 pets and an additional 1.8 million have not been removed.
Microchipping most pets in the city costs around $5.4 million, a report from LAAS. This diagram does not include other related costs for staffing, management, or city-wide mandatory microchipping programs.
Under Los Angeles County regulations, dogs and cats must be microchipped for at least four months. Pet owners must provide a microchip number to the county animal control department.
Changes in ownership of a pet must be notified to the county department using a new address and phone number.
The county will host bi-weekly vaccination clinics at six community animal care centers and purchase microchips for $7.50. Microchip registration is not included.
Despite the policy, the county’s home fees are only 11%.
Dallas has a similar policy. Microchipping has replaced the requirements for animal registration/PET licensing.
Lars reports that Washoe County, Nevada, including Reno, spent $8,100 on microchips in 2023. Data showed that microchip advance expenditures were collected by reducing the intake and length of stay for pets arriving at animal shelters.
Data shows that dogs had a 67% work-from-home rate that year as a result of field officers scanning the microchips and returning the animals directly to the house.
Laas noted that if the city implements microchip policies, the program should “avoid punitive measures.”
“If the city of Los Angeles implements such programs, microchips must be affordable, widely accessible and staff must be trained to plant them,” the report reads.
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