Microchip Hunters (MH): 2024 Resolution Stats

This year, Microchip Hunters tackled an incredible 1,464 dead-end microchip cases—a 62.8% increase compared to 2023!

Out of those 1,464 cases, we successfully reached 853 owners (58.3%)! However, 287 cases (nearly 20%) had unregistered microchips with no owner information due to reasons such as:
- Chips sold by third parties like Amazon.
- Rescue organizations or shelters that went out of business or
lacked records
- Chip companies that were unresponsive or undeterminable.

When excluding these 287 cases, our success rate jumps to 72.5%!

Thanks to our efforts, 486 animals (33%) were happily reunited with their families this year!

We couldn't do this without your support. A huge thank-you to everyone who submitted cases for help and to our amazing fans who spread the word about our free and vital service: www.microchiphelp.com Microchip Hunters is a volunteer program operating under Lost Dogs Illinois, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The program is funded through donations made to Lost Dogs Illinois.

Stay tuned for more stats and heartwarming stories from Microchip Hunters!
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~ Microchip Hunters

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Working together to get animals home...
In just the 1st half of 2024, Microchip Hunters successfully handled a total of 659 'dead-end' microchip/tag cases, connecting with 412 owners, an impressive 62.7% success rate. It's worth noting that within this percentage, there were 104 cases where obtaining information posed challenges—whether due to uncooperative facilities, chips purchased from platforms like Amazon, difficulties in locating information at the facility, etc. If we exclude these 104 'impossible' cases, our outreach to owners increases significantly to an impressive 74% ! The dedication and effort Microchip Hunter volunteers invest in reuniting animals is truly incredible, and we are very proud!
Thank you to all the facilities, Good Samaritans and fans who submitted cases and shared our website/links! Of the 412 families reached, 240 (36.5%) went home so far in 2024 and may have never been reunited without these submissions!
Here are some additional statistics from the first half of this year:
25% of submissions in the first half 2024 were by Good Samaritans
10% of the Microchip cases we received had 'unknown' or 'unidentifiable' manufacturers.
82% of the cases were dogs; 18% cats

Please continue to spread the word about Microchip Hunters so we can all work together to get animals home! Our Microchip Hunter team is nationwide and ready to research!!!
Link to our website: www.microchiphelp.com
Good Samaritan JotForm for submission: https://form.jotform.com/90818285559976
Animal Control/Shelters JotForm for submission:
https://form.jotform.com/90818736755975
Vet/Police JotForm for submission:
https://form.jotform.com/90818736755975

MICROCHIP HUNTERS 2023

In the year 2023, Microchip Hunters successfully handled a total of 920 cases, connecting with 613 owners, an impressive 67% success rate. It's worth noting that within this percentage, there were 127 cases where obtaining information posed challenges—whether due to uncooperative facilities, chips purchased from platforms like Amazon, difficulties in locating information at the facility, etc. If we exclude these 127 'impossible' cases, our outreach to owners increases significantly to an impressive 86%! The dedication and effort Microchip Hunter volunteers invest in reuniting animals is truly incredible.

Thank you to all the facilities, good Samaritans and fans who submitted cases and shared our website/links! The 376 animals that went home may have never been reunited without these submissions!

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​What percent of Microchip Hunter submissions are unregistered microchips?

40.9% of microchip cases in 2023 were unregistered microchips, and 13.8% of the unregistered microchips received we were unable to get any owner information! Reasons include: microchips purchased from platforms like Amazon, difficulty in locating information at the facility that microchipped the animal, microchips that have no 'sold to' information, unknown microchip manufacturers, etc.

Please be sure your microchips are registered!
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2022 Illinois/Midwest Microchip Help Statistics
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​Our Microchip Hunters Illinois group (and Midwest states) had a tremendous year! Thank you for asking for help!!!

In 2022, we received 560 dead end microchip and tag cases!

Of the 560 cases submitted, we reached 423 families, or 75.5%. This includes those microchips that had no owner information to be found (this could be because the facility/rescue didn't keep/find records, cannot share records, or because it is a microchip that has no traceable manufacturer). Of all cases we had owner information for, we reached owners over 77% of the time!

Though we had our share of owners who were unable to claim their pets, we were able to help reunite 269 dogs and cats (49%) that may not have made it home otherwise!

Thank you to all the animal control facilities, police departments, shelters, rescues, vet offices, and Good Samaritans that submitted to us! Also, thank you to all those that recommended us! We appreciate your trust in our group!
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These dogs and cats belong home. Let's keep these families together!!!

2021 Illinois Microchip Help Statistics

In 2021, Microchip Hunters Illinois received 391 dead-end microchip/rabies tag cases.

Microchip Hunters were able to personally reach 285 owners (73%), 24 owners were found before we made contact (6%), we did not hear back from 49 owners (12.5%), and we were unable to find any owner information for 33 pets (8.5%).

Because of our group, 208 dogs and cats went home with their families in 2021 that may not have otherwise; 73% of owners we reached reclaimed their pets!!!

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Did you know that 25% of microchips that were submitted to Microchip Hunters Illinois were NOT registered to an owner? - 2021

Don't assume your pets microchip is registered; always call and verify that your contact is in their system, and that the information is entered correctly! We are all human and mistakes happen!

If you have the microchip number and don't know where to call, check with www.petmicrochiplookup.org, and we recommend you register with the manufacturer of the microchip if possible! 3% of the microchip cases we had come in were registered to a microchip company other than the manufacturer, which can cause some missed owner information.

Here are the statistics we compiled regarding microchip registries we received cases for in 2021 here in Illinois and 5 adjoining states

2020 Illinois Microchip Help Statistics

In 2020, Microchip Hunters Illinois received 353 dead-end microchip/rabies tag cases.

Microchip Hunters were able to personally reach 214 owners (60.6%), 29 owners were found before we made contact (8.2%), we did not hear back from 76 owners (21.5%), and we were unable to find any owner information for 34 pets (9.6%).

Because of our group, 143 dogs and cats went home with their families (40.5%) in 2020 that may not have otherwise; 67% of owners we reached reclaimed their pets!!!

2019 Illinois Microchip Help Statistics
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194 Cases, but 19 were resolved before we finished tracing. So we worked 175 cases to completion. 57% of the time we made contact with the owner. (164 of the 194 cases were CACC) ​