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Grammy-winning pop singer Christina
Aguilera loves animals, so she has donated $16,000
to make it easier for lost pets to be reunited with
their owners.
The former Marshall resident bought 40 microchip
scanners to be placed in the patrol cars of the
police departments of Cranberry,
Pine-Marshall-Bradford Woods, Ohio Township,
McCandless, Franklin Park and Richland.
The scanners read identification numbers that are
programmed onto tiny computer chips injected under
the skin of dogs, cats and other pets.
"I'm sure most people don't realize that a large
percentage of our calls are animal related," said
Ohio Township police Chief Norbert Micklos, one of
the north suburban officers who attended a news
conference Friday announcing the donation.
Aguilera was not there, but her mother, Shelly
Kearns, who still lives in the area, came with her
golden retriever, Bowser, to present the scanners at
the news conference at Bradford Hills Veterinary
Hospital in Marshall.
"Because of space and time constraints, we don't
have a lot of options when we find animals without
identification," Micklos said. "We let dispatch know
we have an animal and keep it in a cage at the
station, but we can only keep it so long.
"If we don't get any calls on the animal, we call
Triangle Pet," the private contractor that provides
animal control services for Ohio Township and more
than 70 other suburbs. "They keep the animal for 48
hours."
If the owner does not come forward, the animal is
killed.
"Having the scanners will be great. They will make
our job easier and hopefully help us save a lot of
lost pets and get them back to their owners
quickly," Micklos said.
Aguilera and her mother, have six dogs, two cats and
three guinea pigs, which turns the Kearns household
into Noah's Ark when Aguilera visits, her mother
said.
Aguilera's three dogs -- a bull mastiff named KoKo
and papillons named Chui and Stinky -- previously
had microchips injected at Bradford Hills Veterinary
Hospital.
"Christina and her family were very interested in
the technology" and wanted to help other animals,
said James B. Krewatch, the veterinarian who owns
the hospital.
The scanners purchased by Aguilera are AVID
Identification Systems Inc. MiniTrackers. A
California veterinarian founded the American
Veterinary Identification Devices company 20 years
ago after his dog was lost when a gate was left
open. AVID now has more than 10 million microchips
in circulation.
AVID gave Aguilera a reduced rate on the 40 scanners
and matched her gift by donating free chips to local
shelters.
AVID gets more than 500 telephone calls a day from
shelters and veterinarians who have scanned lost
pets that have the microchips implanted. On dogs and
cats, the chips are generally implanted between the
shoulder blades.
Bowser, 3, accompanied Kearns to the press
conference because he has a microchip. He wagged his
tail and seemed happy to visit with those in
attendance.
He was somewhat upstaged, however, by a 1-year-old
pug.
Two days earlier, the puppy was running loose in
North Park when he was picked up by a person who was
walking dogs there. The pug was wearing a collar but
had no tags. The person brought him to Krewatch's
clinic last Thursday because he apparently knew the
hospital has scanners to check chips.
The hospital also has a reputation for keeping stray
animals for several days while trying to find the
owners. Clients contribute to a stray animal fund to
help care for lost animals, said Dorothy Wagner,
practice manager at Bradford Hills Veterinary
Hospital.
The hospital staff called AVID and was thrilled to
find that the pug had a chip. His name is Busta, and
he is owned by Anthony and Jeana Novick, of Pine.
Their daughter, Jessie, a junior at Pine-Richland
High School, picked up Busta during the news
conference.
Jessie said it was her idea to implant a microchip
into Busta last year.
The family said Busta and their husky-mix, Nellie,
were let out the back door the night of May 18 for
just a few minutes. The dogs did something they had
never done before -- they ran off and did not come
back when called. Nellie returned a short time
later, but Busta did not. The family is grateful to
the dog walker who picked up Busta and took him to
the veterinary hospital. The good Samaritan wishes
to remain anonymous. |
