In 2008, the AVMA adopted recommendations from a special task force to guide veterinarians in scanning patients for microchips prior to treatment. "Veterinarians cannot be expected to investigate or resolve ownership disputes over an animal, but should ask for documentation of ownership in circumstances that raise suspicion that the presenting person may not actually be the lawful owner of the animal,” says Adrian Hochstadt, assistant director of state legislative and regulatory affairs for the American Veterinary Medical Association in Schaumburg, Ill. A veterinarian’s primary obligation is to provide healthcare and treatment to a client’s dog. Shelters typically scan for chips, but generally a veterinarian is not required to scan for a chip when a client brings in a dog. "The statute may not specifically address dogs or scanning for a chip, but scanning could be deemed a reasonable step.” "In Virginia there is a civil penalty for a finder who doesn’t take the necessary steps to find the rightful owner of property,” Meinzer explains. Is the finder of a lost dog obligated to have the dog scanned for a chip before taking ownership of the dog? What if the finder is well-intentioned but uneducated about microchipping? Microchipping identification adds new considerations. "Dogs may legally be deemed property, but they’re viewed very differently in our society than the average piece of personal property.” New Considerations "Similarly, in complicated dog custody disputes, some courts are beginning to take into account the dog’s well-being and her relationships with the contesting owners,” Meinzer says. Some the courts examined not only ownership claims, but the levels of care provided to the dogs in dispute. "Conflicts about dog ownership after Hurricane Katrina, for example, involved families that had left dogs behind (sometimes voluntarily and other times involuntarily) disputing with the families that had adopted the dogs,” Meinzer says. So just because a dog is microchipped doesn’t mean the owner automatically will get it back if it is lost or even stolen, and later identified.Ĭourts, state legislatures and veterinary associations continue to explore the ethics and practicalities of contested dog ownership. "Proof of one’s bond to, and relationship with, an animal can be more compelling in certain contexts.” "While microchips are strong evidence of ownership, especially in theft of companion animal cases, they’re not the only variables a court will consider in deciding cases of disputed ownership,” explains Scott Heiser of Portland, Ore., senior attorney and criminal justice program director with the Animal Legal Defense Fund. "At times, reasonable efforts on the part of the finder to track down the original owner, as well as the time spent caring for the dog, may be sufficient to overcome the prior owner’s original superior interest,” Meinzer says.Īnd microchipping a dog can affect a court’s perception of ownership. Generally, in common law the original owner of a dog has a superior ownership interest compared with the finder of a lost dog.Ĭertain facts, however, may alter those rights.
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"If family X locates the dog, perhaps even showing up with registration papers, the door opens for a property dispute between the families.”In some cases, ownership may not be so clear-cut. "A lost, non-microchipped dog owned by family X may be found by family Y, who after diligently trying to find the owner decides to keep the dog and microchip her,” Meinzer explains. For example, when microchips are placed in the dog upon the client’s request, rarely is any "proof” of ownership required.
"While microchipping is, indeed, a new and helpful way to reclaim a lost pet, there are some occasional murky legal waters stemming from certain circumstances and facts,” explains Heidi Meinzer, an animal law attorney in Alexandria, Va. Shelters, animal-control organizations and veterinarians usually scan for microchips on recovered dogs. Often, fortunately, the scenario does play out this way. Most owners presume that if they have their pet tagged with microchip identification and she becomes lost, someone who finds the pet will scan the chip and notify the owner. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the March 2014 issue of Dog Fancy magazine, a sister publication of Veterinary Practice News.
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