Sadly cat snatching is a real thing that's happened to me possibly twice. The first time was confirmed beyond a doubt; I had to bust out my cat from her back porch at 2am or so when I was roaming the neighborhood looking for him. The only reason I was even in the vicinity was that it was the last spot the GPS tracker reported before he went missing.
"Keep your pets indoors, then!" Yeah, yeah. The risks come with the territory. But my boy Pepper is still with me after a couple years, and I'm hoping a tag with "I have a happy home" followed by my number will keep would-be "do-gooders" away. (A lot of these crazy folks that snatch pets think they're doing the pet a favor by taking them.)
Miss you Salt.
Ubiquitous microchips are really quite amazing.
> The 15-digit pet microchip is the international standard (see ISO 11784:1996 and ISO 11785:1996)
https://www.aaha.org/for-veterinary-professionals/microchip-...
- Are you a furry?
- Do you tend to wander off and forget who you are?
- Who would think to scan a human for a chip?
- Is this a common thing to do and I just don't know it?
- Did you put the chip there or did someone else?
- Or was it some kind of freak accident?
And when they used it as a digital identifier to check for the Covid-vaccination status, of course all the wormbrained screamed that "Covid certificate mandate leads to Swedish government microchipping its citizens!'.
I think most people use them as a backup work badge or controlling other RFID readers (car key, smart lock, etc). Or as a party trick
It's not particularly common but I've met other people.
Some people selfinject but it's probably more common to go to like a tattoo parlor or body mod shop
I went to a piercing shop to get it done by a guy who does silicone implants and other less common body modifications.
It's not common. The only other people I've met with chips are the guy who implanted it and my girlfriend at the time.
I have considered getting a newer model implanted and using that to badge in at work and home, but I'd likely have to travel halfway across the country to get it done.
if they bother scanning the bodies
I highly highly encourage all you pet lovers to obtain one for your little homie.
You never know when you’ll need it.
In Belgium there is a centralized database in which the data is maintained.
When I moved to the USA I thought it was very weird that it wasn't done automatically, and that there are many databases out there.
In fact, one went bust a while ago: https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/microchip-company-cl...
Now what? Gotta pay to have 18 digits and an address inserted in a database?
I thought it was very weird in the USA
> He's super docile and friendly. Always has been.
Are pit bulls known for being docile?
Only afterward did I realized I almost destroyed my livelihood.
My partner Google stalked the owner and discovered that he’d been force to surrender another pit bull two years earlier.
There's some selection bias, obviously, but their reputation is definitely overblown.
The only time my dog was ever randomly attacked was a pitbull and you quickly learn talking to other dog owners how common this is. Nothing clears out a dog park like a pit bull showing up.
There is a self-selecting bias with pit bulls. People who buy and raise pit bulls often want a “mean” “tough” dog, so that’s what they get. You get a loving sweet pit bull if you raise them in a loving sweet way. Dogs are like children; they are very observant and pick up on even the tiniest of cues.
Although, like people, some dogs (of all different breeds) are born more aggressive. That can usually be corrected with training. It’s mostly nurture, and part nature.
They don't. The range of a typical chip reader is a few inches - reading one requires handling the dog (and can be tricky if the chip's migrated from its expected position). It's not something that can be done covertly, or from a distance.
Some owners do use GPS trackers or AirTag like devices.