# Can a microchip be wiped in any way?



## Karene

A Microchip is just an RFID module with a number on it right? I wonder how immune they are to all the other issues RFID have from magnetic interference wiping the data.

If all a thief has to do is wave a speaker magnet over my dogs back it isn't going to help much.

The reason I bring this up is because my neighbor found a dog several years ago, had her scanned for a microchip but found nothing. She kept the pup and a year later she finally decided to microchip the dog.

Well a month ago the dog had tried to climb the fence and ended up with a leg injury that needed an X-ray and the vet found a second microchip but couldn't get any info from it and it never came up when they did the original scan.

It's been bugging her the thought of the dog having a home. She tried fliers, an ad in the paper as well as several vet hospitals and pet stores in the area without any luck and has since taken wonderful care of the dog.

I'm having my dog microchipped this week and that's what brought this conversation on.


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## Pai

I know some scanners cannot read all chip brands, and also if the owner of the chip does not register that chip with the company, their info will not come up when the dog is scanned. An unregistered chip is useless.


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## 3212

As a vet tech I've microchipped many dogs and cats. I don't know a whole lot about how to deactivate them, but I have never heard of this happening. We can't always read people's chips, but we don't have a universal scanner. We do AVID chipping and (as we just found out) our scanner only reads AVID chips. 

I feel it would take more work to deactivate the microchip though.


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## KaseyT

Pai said:


> I know some scanners cannot read all chip brands, and also if the owner of the chip does not register that chip with the company, their info will not come up when the dog is scanned. An unregistered chip is useless.


Registering them has no effect of the ability to read them. It may effect the ability to translate the number read into an owners name.


Q: Will a magnet erase an RFID chip? 
A: No, the chips are not magnetically encoded. Running a magnet over the chip or using a tape eraser will not affect the chip. 

http://www.spychips.com/faqs.html


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## Pai

KaseyT said:


> Registering them has no effect of the ability to read them. It may effect the ability to translate the number read into an owners name.


So if a chip can't be erased, and since you say an unregistered chip apparently _does_ still give a number (just no owner info) when scanned, then what is up with the chip on her dog not appearing at all except on an x-ray? 

I know some chip readers are incompatible with certain brands of chip -- does that mean they do not recognize the presence of those brands at all?


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## Spicy1_VV

Pai said:


> So if a chip can't be erased, and since you say an unregistered chip apparently _does_ still give a number (just no owner info) when scanned, then what is up with the chip on her dog not appearing at all except on an x-ray?
> 
> I know some chip readers are incompatible with certain brands of chip -- does that mean they do not recognize the presence of those brands at all?


They are correct on the chips working, there shouldn't be nothing happening. When I implant a chip I check to make sure that the numbers come up and are correct. If not then the chip is defective (or if other numbers came up that wouldn't be good). Maybe the previous owners did not do that? 

Many owners never register the chip, shelters scan and find them but there is no registered owner to those numbers. Makes it frustrating for them. 

The chip could have been defective but not checked after implant. It is possible it was checked but did get damaged somehow or stopped working. I'd have to think its an isolated incident. 

I also believe your last statement is true. I'm not sure though but it would make sense. If there is one type of chip and scanner for another that doesn't read that type then it wouldn't show up. I think that is a concern some people were having with chipping. Not all shelters have scanners for different chips or the universal scanner. So they're dog could be chipped but not picked up by the scanner. Perhaps that is the case here.


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## animalcraker

I wouldn't imagine that a chip could simply be disabled with a magnet, considering the dogs are exposed to a variety of different things like x-rays and magnets. That being said the microchip is a simle bit of technology and microchips do fail. At my work we ALWAYS scan the chip BEFORE implanting and after implanting. We also do a full scan of the animal before implanting.

If the mircochip is not compatable with the scaner or it's failed than the chip won't show up and it will apear as if nothing's there. I always have my pets scaned during thier annual check-ups to mae sure the chips are still working and haven't migrated. Owners should also make sure that thier local shelters are using a universal scaner that will read thier chip.

The most common problem I've found with the chip, other than someone not having a universal scanner, is people not doing a full scan for the chip and owners not registering thier chips. Chips can and do migrate, we've found one all the way down in the elbow before. Also it's almost allways a tech doing the impant, there's no gaurentee they put the chip in the exact place you looked. This is why we always scan from the neck to the elbows to the lower back, to canvas the entire area where a chip may be. It's very rare that we find a chip exactly where we expect it to be. It's usualy just to the side of the shoulders, instead of between them, but if we didn't move the scaner it could easily be missed.

The other problem is owners not registering thier info. There's quite a few pet shop puppies that are chiped before they're sold and never get registered. We've had 2 owners that found dogs chiped by the Hunte Corporation. Alot of owners expect that it will imedietely start working and able to get thier pet home. Yes the chip should pop up with the number when scaned, but if your info isn't registered than there's no way to know who the owner is. The chip can be tracked down to the vet, rescue, breeder, or mill; but if they didn't keep good records of thier implants or you've changed your info since then, chances are our pet won't be returning home to you.


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## ladyshadowhollyjc

Okay dumb question, but if the chip is defective can it be removed and another one be put in??


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## Spicy1_VV

Yeah chips can be removed but it is easier to just leave it and insert a 2nd good chip.


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## animalcraker

ladyshadowhollyjc said:


> Okay dumb question, but if the chip is defective can it be removed and another one be put in??


As Spicy said you *can*, but it's easier to just put in a second. Removing it would require exploratory surgery. It's just not sensible to remove it considering the only way you would know it existed would be with an x-ray. 

Lots of owners will put 2 chip in anyways. For example they'll put in an AVID chip and a HomeAgain chip. If the pet got found by somebody without a universal scanner, they would hopefully have a scanner to pick up either chip. And no a universal scaner doesn't pick up both chip #'s at once. When you scan the first chip # will pop up and you ha to re-scan to try to get the second chip #.


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## Lolas_Dad

To the OP,How did they find the second chip?. As far as I know they are no bigger than a grain of rice.

I would think it would be impossible to find the first one unless an x-ray was done. Being it lays under the skin I don't see by inserting another one that they could find the original one without an x-ray and if it did show up under an x-ray then the question would be why didn't they do that in the first place.


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## wvasko

What is the cost of a universal scanner compared to a one brand scanner. I would think any vet would want to purchase a universal scanner. What idiots decided to make more brands(never mind, everybody got to get a piece of the pie, money to be made etc)


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## animalcraker

wvasko said:


> What is the cost of a universal scanner compared to a one brand scanner.


I don't know the cost of the scaners, but most chip companies will give scaners to non-profits and shelters for free.


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## wvasko

Well then it goes like this, you buy a puppy etc(however you get/dog/pup etc.)and then you go around to local shelters city/county etc and ask what scanners they have on line. Then go to local vets in your immediate area and check them out and then go out and put multiple chips in your dog. I am not knocking the chip program as it has done loads of good stuff. It irks me that the stupid stuff follows and causes unnecessary problems.


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## Lolas_Dad

wvasko said:


> Well then it goes like this, you buy a puppy etc(however you get/dog/pup etc.)and then you go around to local shelters city/county etc and ask what scanners they have on line. Then go to local vets in your immediate area and check them out and then go out and put multiple chips in your dog. I am not knocking the chip program as it has done loads of good stuff. It irks me that the stupid stuff follows and causes unnecessary problems.



All scanners should be like the old VHS players and recorders, one standard where one can read the other. It did not matter whose VCR you had as all the tapes could be read by another machine.


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## ashleybishton1989

All RFID can be written over and data embedded its relatively easy. It's how people like me get into buildings we shouldnt. All it takes is 2 seconds tops to get the data then rewrite it to the module. Check out [edited by administrator] lol it will l scare you and render all dog microchips useless. It would take nothing to change ownership details on these things.


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## RonE

This thread is over 13 years old, but thanks. 

I don't think microchips are necessarily intended to foil a determined thief. But one of my escape artists who would sometimes get out without her collar was returned several times because animal control was able to read her chip. 

I'm closing this old thread but feel free to start a new one.


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