TAYLA SWALES
From the 19th and 20th of November, dogs, cats, owners and animal lovers will gather together across Australia for The Great Aussie Microchip Blitz 2016.
The microchip blitz involves micro chipping over 20,000 pets at PETstock stores around Australia for a small fee of $10 per pet.
In preparation for the event, organizers are calling for volunteers to donate their time to help the day run smoothly.
Over 1,000 volunteers nationwide are needed to microchip the goal of over 20,000 pets during the weekend.
Volunteers are merely asked to help co-ordinate pets, people and paperwork.
By Queensland law, all dogs and cats born after the 10th of April 2009 must be microchipped before they are sold or given away, and all regulated dogs must be microchipped regardless of date of birth.
Council also regulates that microchip information must be kept up to date at all times.
The event began in South Australia where microchipping pets is not a legal obligation.
The Blitz is back! Get your pet microchipped for just $10 on the weekend of 19/20 November. All PETstock stores… https://t.co/KdMeK9aSQh
— Lost Pets SA (@LostPetsSA) November 2, 2016
Originally The Great SA Microchip Blitz, it was founded by Lost Pets of South Australia with the Dog and Cat Management Board, RSPCA, Animal Welfare League of South Australia and PETstock.
Co-Founder of Lost Pets of South Australia Christine Robertson said using social media to find owners of lost animals just wasn’t enough.
“A microchipped pet has a much better chance of being quickly returned home than a pet with no identification,” she said.
“It also reduces the cost burden on shelters like the RSPCA and Animal Welfare League, which do so much good work. In each area that we’ve done one of the Chip Blitz events, we’ve had great support from the local council. We’ve already microchipped more than 3500 cats and dogs through the program, and we’d love to see that number keep increasing.”
To register to volunteer for any or all of the weekend, please visit the registration website here.