One small chip, and your pet is set for life
There is a moment, and it really is just a moment, where a vet slips a tiny device, no bigger than a grain of rice, under your pet's skin, and that is that: permanent identification, done. We carry three families here at United Pet Club, Standard ISO, TapSense, and ThermaSense, and whichever one you go with, free lifetime registration in our pet registry comes along for the ride.
What this little chip does, and what it never will
Now, there is no battery in a microchip, so it will not be telling you where the dog has got to on his wanderings around the estate, that much people often assume and it simply is not true. What it holds instead is a tiny glass capsule, sitting between the shoulder blades, carrying one unique code that stays readable for as long as your pet lives. An ISPCA volunteer, a dog warden, or a vet runs a scanner over a lost animal, up comes that code, and with it your contact details, pulled straight from the registry sitting behind the chip.
Every chip we sell meets ISO 11784/11785, the international standard for this sort of thing, so a standard scanner at nearly any vet practice or shelter, here or well beyond these shores, will read it without bother. We register with ICAR too, the International Committee for Animal Recording, and each order comes with a free QR pet ID tag for the collar, grand for whoever finds your pet if they have not a scanner to hand.
Torn between the three? Have a look through our microchip comparison guide, it sets Standard ISO, TapSense, and ThermaSense out next to one another.
Three families, and the one registry behind them
Standard ISO
Our starting point, built to ISO 11784/11785 for permanent identification, and a standard scanner will pick it up whether you're here at home or off travelling somewhere.
TapSense
Standard ISO, and then a smartphone gets to read it too, tap and go, no scanner needed at all for that bit. Comes in TapSense or TapSense Core, a few sizes on offer.
ThermaSense
Identification with a temperature reading built right in, worth having for health monitoring. Comes as ThermaSense or its bigger sibling, ThermaSense X.
Why owners here tend to pick us
ISO standard
FDX-B certified and built to ISO 11784/11785, so the scanners already sitting in vet practices, shelters, and dog wardens' vans will read it without any fuss.
ICAR registered
Carries ICAR registration, the standard the veterinary world the world over tends to rely on.
Free lifetime plan
Registration costs nothing, and neither does a single update after that, for as long as your pet is around. Nothing ever comes due for renewal.
Small size
Chip and needle alike are kept small, so the implant itself is over quickly, whether we're talking about a terrier or something considerably larger.
Environmentally friendly
A reusable injector can be had separately from the needle, and that keeps a fair bit of single-use plastic out of the bin.
Upgraded registry
Fancy something beyond the free plan? Extras like scan alerts or where your pet's tag was last searched can be added on.
A registry doing the quiet work of getting pets home
Every chip arrives already linked up to the United Pet Club pet registry, searchable day and night by vets, ISPCA branches, and dog wardens, and we sit inside the AAHA universal microchip lookup as well. Found a stray? Anyone can run a free microchip lookup, no account required. Registration stays free for the whole of your pet's life, you're welcome to change your details whenever you move house or swap numbers, and some plans will let you know the moment your pet's chip or tag gets scanned.
If your pet is already chipped through another crowd entirely, sure, that is no bother, you can still register the microchip number with us, or have a read of what free registration includes before you get going.
What Irish pet owners tend to ask us
Is it actually the law here to microchip a dog?
It is, yes, and has been since the Microchipping of Dogs Regulations 2015 came in, which make chipping and registration a legal requirement right across the country. A puppy needs to be chipped by twelve weeks of age, or before leaving its first home, whichever of the two comes first. Dog wardens are usually the ones checking compliance out on the ground. Registering any ISO chip with us costs nothing, so that part of the requirement is sorted without spending a cent.
Would a microchip tell me where my pet has got to right now?
It would not, and that catches people out more than you might think. There is no battery, no GPS, only an ID number, and that only ever gets read once your pet has been found and brought to a vet, an ISPCA branch, or a dog warden. If it's live tracking you're after, a separate GPS collar or tag is what you'd want instead.
What actually makes a chip an ISO chip?
One that meets ISO 11784/11785, the international standard letting any properly equipped scanner read it, regardless of which country or company put it there in the first place. That shared standard is exactly why a pet chipped here can still be identified if it winds up lost somewhere else entirely, and the same holds true in reverse.
Which chip would you say suits my pet best?
Standard ISO if straightforward, permanent identification is all you're after, and that covers most people well enough. TapSense if you'd like pet details readable by a smartphone tap alongside a standard scanner. ThermaSense if temperature sensing alongside identification would genuinely be useful to you, breeding or an older pet being the usual reasons.
Would vets and shelters here actually recognise a United Pet Club chip?
They would, without question. Our chips meet ISO 11784/11785 and carry ICAR registration, the very standards the whole industry works from, so any vet practice, ISPCA branch, or dog warden's scanner built for standard microchips reads ours the same as any other.
Time to get your pet properly sorted
Get in touch about ordering chips for the household or the practice, or add a chip you already have to the free United Pet Club pet registry.