Animal Welfare Professionals

We are about to launch (to my knowledge) the biggest Community Microchip Scanning Station initiative in Texas! Right here in Hays County!

Here's what I've learned...

A few years back, a group of animal welfare advocates got the city manager to agree to give Microchip Scanners to the Firestations.

Problem is, there was NO BUY IN from the fire department staff.

Anyone who has ever scanned an animal knows it's not just a scan and go process. Also, the fire stations are often made up of 25-40 year old men. Now, I love men as much as the next girl, but these guys aren't who we have volunteering to scan pets in the community. 

While most of our fire stations have scanners, MOST of their staff either don't know, don't want to know and/or have no idea what to do with them. 

Our approach was different. I met with the fire chiefs in our area and said...
Look, I know you guys got voluntold to do this, I also think that's ridiculous. 
What if I told you we can give you the credit for having it, but have it be totally hands off?
Literally every one of them said, YES PLEASE, what's the catch?
No catch, I'm going to put a fully informational step by step sign, a junction box with the device and I'm going to manage charging them. 
IN FACT, if anyone comes to ask you anything about it, I WANT you to say "Everything you need to know is on that sign"
I need you do to do NOTHING, except let me install them in a well lit area that is generally accessible and doesn't hinder your work.

And voila! We have three departments all in, with installation scheduled on the first 14 stations. We have everything needed for an additional 6, once the last station chief sees it's actually going to work like I say it is, he's been a tough sell!

I am happy to share EVERYTHING we've done with ANYONE wanting to get this going in their area. Whether you want to do 1 or 100. I'm happy to share our sign info, including files and sizing. I am happy to share Amazon links for the supplies and our chip scanner supplier. We all win when we work together, no on needs to recreate the wheel here, I've done the legwork! 

I'm also happy to answer any questions about conversations with local animal control, fire depts, why we chose the places we chose. We intentionally did not choose pet related businesses to install these, ask me why!

I did A TON of research on this and had LOTS of meetings with folks about what works and what doesn't. 

We are about to launch (to my knowledge) the biggest Community Microchip Scanning Station initiative in Texas! Right here in Hays County!

Here's what I've learned...

A few years back, a group of animal welfare advocates got the city manager to agree to give Microchip Scanners to the Firestations.

Problem is, there was NO BUY IN from the fire department staff.

Anyone who has ever scanned an animal knows it's not just a scan and go process. Also, the fire stations are often made up of 25-40 year old men. Now, I love men as much as the next girl, but these guys aren't who we have volunteering to scan pets in the community. 

While most of our fire stations have scanners, MOST of their staff either don't know, don't want to know and/or have no idea what to do with them. 

Our approach was different. I met with the fire chiefs in our area and said...
Look, I know you guys got voluntold to do this, I also think that's ridiculous. 
What if I told you we can give you the credit for having it, but have it be totally hands off?
Literally every one of them said, YES PLEASE, what's the catch?
No catch, I'm going to put a fully informational step by step sign, a junction box with the device and I'm going to manage charging them. 
IN FACT, if anyone comes to ask you anything about it, I WANT you to say "Everything you need to know is on that sign"
I need you do to do NOTHING, except let me install them in a well lit area that is generally accessible and doesn't hinder your work.

And voila! We have three departments all in, with installation scheduled on the first 14 stations. We have everything needed for an additional 6, once the last station chief sees it's actually going to work like I say it is, he's been a tough sell!

I am happy to share EVERYTHING we've done with ANYONE wanting to get this going in their area. Whether you want to do 1 or 100. I'm happy to share our sign info, including files and sizing. I am happy to share Amazon links for the supplies and our chip scanner supplier. We all win when we work together, no on needs to recreate the wheel here, I've done the legwork! 

I'm also happy to answer any questions about conversations with local animal control, fire depts, why we chose the places we chose. We intentionally did not choose pet related businesses to install these, ask me why!

I did A TON of research on this and had LOTS of meetings with folks about what works and what doesn't. 

This is fantastic, and I absolutely love that you focused on making the program work with your local fire departments instead of creating more work for them. That kind of collaboration is what makes initiatives like this sustainable.

We'd also be happy to contribute on the education side! The Reunite Tonight Project has developed a comprehensive microchip education course that covers topics like how microchips work, keeping registrations up to date, what to do when you find a lost pet, scam awareness, and more. We've designed it so the material can be customized to account for different state laws and local procedures.

After participants complete the course, our project covers the cost of their pet's microchip through our partner veterinary clinics, helping remove one more barrier to getting pets protected before they ever go missing.

The more organizations that are willing to share resources instead of reinventing them, the more pets we can keep out of shelters and get back home. We'd be happy to share our educational materials with anyone looking to build something similar!

We are about to launch (to my knowledge) the biggest Community Microchip Scanning Station initiative in Texas! Right here in Hays County!

Here's what I've learned...

A few years back, a group of animal welfare advocates got the city manager to agree to give Microchip Scanners to the Firestations.

Problem is, there was NO BUY IN from the fire department staff.

Anyone who has ever scanned an animal knows it's not just a scan and go process. Also, the fire stations are often made up of 25-40 year old men. Now, I love men as much as the next girl, but these guys aren't who we have volunteering to scan pets in the community. 

While most of our fire stations have scanners, MOST of their staff either don't know, don't want to know and/or have no idea what to do with them. 

Our approach was different. I met with the fire chiefs in our area and said...
Look, I know you guys got voluntold to do this, I also think that's ridiculous. 
What if I told you we can give you the credit for having it, but have it be totally hands off?
Literally every one of them said, YES PLEASE, what's the catch?
No catch, I'm going to put a fully informational step by step sign, a junction box with the device and I'm going to manage charging them. 
IN FACT, if anyone comes to ask you anything about it, I WANT you to say "Everything you need to know is on that sign"
I need you do to do NOTHING, except let me install them in a well lit area that is generally accessible and doesn't hinder your work.

And voila! We have three departments all in, with installation scheduled on the first 14 stations. We have everything needed for an additional 6, once the last station chief sees it's actually going to work like I say it is, he's been a tough sell!

I am happy to share EVERYTHING we've done with ANYONE wanting to get this going in their area. Whether you want to do 1 or 100. I'm happy to share our sign info, including files and sizing. I am happy to share Amazon links for the supplies and our chip scanner supplier. We all win when we work together, no on needs to recreate the wheel here, I've done the legwork! 

I'm also happy to answer any questions about conversations with local animal control, fire depts, why we chose the places we chose. We intentionally did not choose pet related businesses to install these, ask me why!

I did A TON of research on this and had LOTS of meetings with folks about what works and what doesn't. 

This is fantastic, and I absolutely love that you focused on making the program work with your local fire departments instead of creating more work for them. That kind of collaboration is what makes initiatives like this sustainable.

We'd also be happy to contribute on the education side! The Reunite Tonight Project has developed a comprehensive microchip education course that covers topics like how microchips work, keeping registrations up to date, what to do when you find a lost pet, scam awareness, and more. We've designed it so the material can be customized to account for different state laws and local procedures.

After participants complete the course, our project covers the cost of their pet's microchip through our partner veterinary clinics, helping remove one more barrier to getting pets protected before they ever go missing.

The more organizations that are willing to share resources instead of reinventing them, the more pets we can keep out of shelters and get back home. We'd be happy to share our educational materials with anyone looking to build something similar!

We are about to launch (to my knowledge) the biggest Community Microchip Scanning Station initiative in Texas! Right here in Hays County!

Here's what I've learned...

A few years back, a group of animal welfare advocates got the city manager to agree to give Microchip Scanners to the Firestations.

Problem is, there was NO BUY IN from the fire department staff.

Anyone who has ever scanned an animal knows it's not just a scan and go process. Also, the fire stations are often made up of 25-40 year old men. Now, I love men as much as the next girl, but these guys aren't who we have volunteering to scan pets in the community. 

While most of our fire stations have scanners, MOST of their staff either don't know, don't want to know and/or have no idea what to do with them. 

Our approach was different. I met with the fire chiefs in our area and said...
Look, I know you guys got voluntold to do this, I also think that's ridiculous. 
What if I told you we can give you the credit for having it, but have it be totally hands off?
Literally every one of them said, YES PLEASE, what's the catch?
No catch, I'm going to put a fully informational step by step sign, a junction box with the device and I'm going to manage charging them. 
IN FACT, if anyone comes to ask you anything about it, I WANT you to say "Everything you need to know is on that sign"
I need you do to do NOTHING, except let me install them in a well lit area that is generally accessible and doesn't hinder your work.

And voila! We have three departments all in, with installation scheduled on the first 14 stations. We have everything needed for an additional 6, once the last station chief sees it's actually going to work like I say it is, he's been a tough sell!

I am happy to share EVERYTHING we've done with ANYONE wanting to get this going in their area. Whether you want to do 1 or 100. I'm happy to share our sign info, including files and sizing. I am happy to share Amazon links for the supplies and our chip scanner supplier. We all win when we work together, no on needs to recreate the wheel here, I've done the legwork! 

I'm also happy to answer any questions about conversations with local animal control, fire depts, why we chose the places we chose. We intentionally did not choose pet related businesses to install these, ask me why!

I did A TON of research on this and had LOTS of meetings with folks about what works and what doesn't.