Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center installs public, free microchip reader

LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) – Most pet owners know the anxiety that comes with having a cat or dog run away. With the rise of microchips, reuniting can be a lot easier.

At the Toyota dealership off the Loop in Longview, a new sign with a scanner can pick up a pet’s unique microchip number.

The Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center installed the Community Microchip Scanning Station yesterday. It will officially open tomorrow.

“It’ll be so much easier. Less stress for everybody. Yeah, I mean less on the dog and less on the owner, on us, because we won’t be looking for her having to wait for the shelter to open to see if she’s here. We’ll be able to get her back,” said Sandra Kooker, a pet owner and volunteer at the adoption center.

After scanning the microchip in between the animal’s shoulder blades, people can then scan the QR code on the sign and type in the microchip number. A third party will then be able to contact the pet owner.

“We are not open 24 hours a day. This is the next best option for individuals, especially those finding an animal at 2 a.m., in hopes that they can find the animal’s home first,” said Jenna George, the executive director at the adoption center in Longview.

“It could help the community help us find these animals and where they belong as opposed to them getting placed into our shelter, in a kennel, while we wait and while we look for an owner,” George explained.

If the animal does not have a microchip, the next step would be to contact the shelter when it opens.

Outside of cities like Dallas, Shreveport and areas in West Texas, the adoption center says they believe this to be the first microchip station in the East Texas area.

The adoption center plans to add more stations in different locations throughout Longview.

“We could always do better, and this shelter over here takes in thousands of animals a year, and we just want to get that cut down, and we do everything we can to help,” said Greg Michelsen, the president of Toyota at Longview.

“If our dog gets loose or one of the dogs gets loose, which would be horrible, I know that she’s gonna get back or he’s gonna back to us quicker,” said Kooker.

The adoption center is also offering a free microchipping tomorrow to go along with the station’s opening.

It’s free, but you must live in Gregg County.

It runs from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Toyota dealership off the Loop in Longview.

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