How to look up your lost pet’s microchip and report it missing
Find the chip number, use the AAHA lookup to see which registry holds it, then call that registry and report your pet as lost.
The short answer
To look up a lost pet’s microchip, find the 9-, 10- or 15-digit chip number in your vet records or adoption papers, enter it in the AAHA Universal Pet Microchip Lookup tool, and note which registry it names. Then call that registry directly, report your pet as lost and check your phone number and address. The AAHA tool does not show owner details and cannot change them, so the call to the registry is the step that counts. Do this today, even if you registered the chip years ago, because a chip is only useful if the record is current.
A chip is not a tracker
Many owners first go looking for this when they think they can locate their pet. A standard microchip cannot do that. It has no battery and no GPS. It stores a number that a scanner can read at close range, and that number links to a registry record. So a chip helps only after someone takes your pet to a vet or shelter and it is scanned. If you want live location, that is a separate GPS collar or tag. It also means you still need posters, because the chip does nothing until your pet is in someone’s hands.
Find the number
Look in your vet records, adoption contract, shelter paperwork or the paperwork from the breeder. Check old invoices and email receipts for your first vet visit. A sticker with a barcode may be in the original pet paperwork. If you have no record, call your vet, the shelter you adopted from, or any clinic that has seen your pet, and ask them to look in their files. They may have the chip number even if you never registered it. Write it down and keep it with your photos. You will need it when you call shelters as well.
Use the lookup tool
Go to the AAHA Universal Pet Microchip Lookup at aaha.org/petmicrochiplookup. Enter the number without spaces or dashes. The tool checks participating registries and shows which ones have a record for the chip. It does not disclose owner information or let you make any changes. It also covers only companies that choose to take part, and it mainly serves chips distributed in the US. Some chips, particularly those starting with 900, may not be traceable to one provider. No result does not prove there is no record. Try the company whose name is on your paperwork too.
Call the registry
Use the phone number on the registry’s website, not one from an ad or a search result you did not check. Say you need to report your pet as lost. Have ready the chip number, your name, your phone numbers, the pet’s description and the date and place it went missing. Ask them to mark the record as lost, and ask what happens when someone reports the chip. Check every contact field while you are on the phone. A chip tied to an old phone number cannot reach you. Add a second person as a backup contact.
If the chip was never registered
It happens. Some pets are chipped but never registered, or are registered to a shelter, rescue or previous owner. AAHA notes that chips are sometimes implanted without being registered to a specific pet, and suggests contacting the companies listed in the lookup and asking for trackback information on the purchaser. If the chip traces back to the shelter or vet that implanted it, ask them to update the record or transfer it to you. Then register it now, even while your pet is missing, so that a scan on Friday reaches you.
Tell shelters and vets the number
Give the number to every shelter, animal control office and vet you contact. If you put it on your report, they can match it to your record fast. Do not put the number on public posters or posts. It adds nothing for a stranger, and leaving out details is a good habit in a world of lost pet scams. Ask each shelter whether it scans every animal on arrival. Finders can usually ask a vet or shelter to scan a pet at no charge. That makes it worth saying on your flyer: Microchipped, please have it scanned.
How much a chip helps
It helps, but not by itself. In a national ASPCA survey, 15 percent of recovered dogs were found through a tag or microchip, and only 2 percent of recovered cats were. Part of the gap is that fewer cats wore ID; 56 percent of the cats in the survey had no tag, license or chip at all. Chips work best alongside a visible tag, a current record and an active search. When your pet is home, ask your vet to scan it during the next visit, to confirm the chip still reads and that the registry has your current details.
Sources
AAHA microchip lookup and FAQ: aaha.org/petmicrochiplookup. Weiss, Slater and Lord, Animals, 2012: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4494319.