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"We are happy to announce that we have purchased an Omni Max Pet Chip Reader. The microchip reader will allow us to more quickly determine if a found animal has a microchip and, if so, obtain the owner's information so we can get the pet home. In the past we have utilized the services of local veterinarians, but feel this will be more efficient," the department said in a statement last month.
Many owners have microchips surgically implanted in their pets, which contain owner data that can be retrieved with an electronic scanner.
Often, however, police are forced to temporarily house the animals at the station or to bring them to a shelter or a vet if they do not possess a scanner themselves.
Steve Wilcox, the vice-president of Woburn, Mass.-based Petlink, which manufacturers the scanner purchased by the Cranford PD, said more and more animal-control officers are using the scanners in order to avoid sending pets to a shelter, which can be traumatic for some pets.
Certain models of scanner are also equipped with sensitive antennae that allow chip data to be obtained from a distance, Wilcox said.
Lost Dogs of New Jersey, a free service that helps reunite missing pets and their owners, is part of a national network of organizations raising money to purchase scanners for animal-control officers and police, WIlcox also said.
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