Santa Barbara Humane Offers Free Microchips at Their Santa Maria Campus

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Many people relish the thought of celebrating the Fourth of July with fireworks, pool parties, and
barbecues. What they may not realize is that these Independence Day traditions can cause stress and
anxiety in their animals and lead to escape attempts. In fact, more pets go missing during the Fourth of
July weekend than any other time of year.

In light of this fact, now through July 3, Santa Barbara Humane is offering free microchips for cats and
dogs at their Santa Maria campus. Appointments can be booked at sbhumane.org/clinic ‘FREE
MICROCHIP appointment’ in Santa Maria.

“The last thing anyone wants is to lose a pet,” said Dr. Katie Marrie, Santa Barbara Humane’s Chief
Veterinary Officer, “”Because Fourth of July festivities can cause anxiety in our pets and increase the
likelihood that an animal will runaway, microchips are a really important tool for us to have.”
Microchips are small electronic devices that are injected between an animal’s shoulder blades. When the
transponder, which is roughly the size of a grain of rice, is scanned at an animal shelter or veterinarian’s
office, the pet’s unique identification number pops up. That number can then be compared against a
national database to find contact information for the owner.

“We are grateful that our donors provide the funds to offer free microchips to our community,” said Dr.
Marrie “Every lost animal who is reunited with their family is a win in our books.”