PEARL RIVER COUNTY, Omit. — When a dog slips out of the yard or a cat disappears in a single day, time matters. Now, Pearl River County residents who safe a misplaced pet safe a manner to verify for a microchip abruptly — with out anticipating animal regulate or making a time out to the safe haven.

The county has installed two public microchip scanning stations on the Picayune and Poplarville police departments. The stations enable anybody who finds a stray animal to scan for a microchip and make contact with the owner at once.

Leaders speak the aim is discreet: Reunite pets with their families quicker and within the low cost of overcrowding on the safe haven.

Haley Crowe, a volunteer with the Pearl River County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said she began discussing the root on Facebook after seeing repeated posts about missing pets.

“It’s form of what we’re working toward, having extra animals microchipped,” Crowe said.

When Crowe approached native officers, she learned plans safe been already underway.

“I if fact be told went to consult with the police insist, form of explained the downside, after which the principle lady came out and said that we already safe one within the works and to contact Donna about it, and we safe been ready to poke from there,” she said.

Donna Lowe, volunteer and foster coordinator for the Pearl River County SPCA, said the stations may per chance well perchance dramatically shorten how long some animals preserve within the safe haven. In 2025, the SPCA took in 3,165 animals. Simplest 122 safe been returned to their owners — and merely 31 of these safe been microchipped.

With out identification, some animals dwell on the safe haven for months.

“Even as you carry an animal in, they form of merely shut down, and they also don’t place well in a safe haven downside,” Crowe said.

Lowe hopes to valid grant funding to present free microchipping clinics, which at this time price $20 per pet. She said increasing the replace of microchipped pets would give a enhance to return rates and within the low cost of stress on every animals and workers.

The scanning stations shall be found in 24 hours a day. Extra evolved scanners, funded by Watts Veterinary Companies of Picayune, are expected to be installed soon.

This article first appeared on RHCJC and is republished right here below a Inventive Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.