Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Faulty microchips: Whanganui's NZ Companion Animal Register helps identify affected pets

Sue Dudman
By Sue Dudman
News director - Whanganui Chronicle·Whanganui Chronicle·
12 Jan, 2018 11:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Pet owners are advised to find out whether their animal has a potentially faulty microchip.

Pet owners are advised to find out whether their animal has a potentially faulty microchip.

Whanganui-based New Zealand Companion Animal Register is helping to identify pets with potentially faulty microchips.

Animal health product provider Virbac has identified potential failure in three batches of its microchips used between 2009 and 2012 and has requested veterinarians replace them. Virbac is one of several microchip providers in New Zealand and about 15,000 animals may be affected.

Nygllhuw Morris, of Animal Register Ltd which hosts and administers the New Zealand Companion Animal Register (NZCAR), said theirs is the largest database of microchipped companion animals in New Zealand.

"There are 1.8 million cats and dogs in New Zealand and we have more than 580,000 in our database," Mr Morris said.

The database can identify registered animals that have been chipped with the potentially faulty microchips.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The important message is that the chips may - only may - fail and Virbac will cover the cost of replacement to be safe, and that will include updating NZCAR if the animal is registered with us," Mr Morris said.

"If your pet goes missing, it is better to have two working chips than one failed one. While this situation is unfortunate for Virbac, it doesn't reduce the value of having your pet chipped and registered."

After the Canterbury earthquakes, NZCAR received more than 25,000 calls and faxes in a 12-week period and placed more than 800 adverts for lost and found pets.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Of the unregistered pets we got 25 per cent home within three days. Of the microchipped and registered pets we got 85 per cent home within three hours of being found. Microchipping works.

"If people are concerned that their animal may have one of the potentially faulty microchips and they are registered with us, they can call us during business hours or email us and we can advise them.

"If the current chip may have a fault they can take the animal to a vet or the SPCA and they will do a free scan to make sure it's working."

Mr Morris said a failed chip does not mean a pet will be automatically euthanised if trapped.

"No council in New Zealand is advocating this action and it is disappointing that people are using this chip issue to worry pet owners with this scaremongering," Mr Morris said.

The failure rate of microchips is exceedingly low, the New Zealand Veterinarian Association says.

"These three batches of Virbac BioTec microchips have not been used since 2012 after they were recalled. They represent less than 0.7 per cent of all microchips in New Zealand."

How to find out if your pet's microchip needs replacing

If your pet was microchipped between 2009 and 2012 they may have a chip that is at risk of becoming unreadable sometime in the future.

Microchip numbers can usually be found in your pet's vaccination record booklet.

If the 15-digit microchip inserted in your pet starts with 900088, 9000088 or 9000010 make an appointment with your vet to have another microchip inserted and registered. Virbac will arrange with the vet to cover the cost of placing the second microchip.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Kāinga Ora needs to be ‘responsive to need’, says minister

04 Jul 06:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Work begins on key phase of port project

04 Jul 06:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Pop star to speak on new book at Whanganui Literary Fest

04 Jul 04:57 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Kāinga Ora needs to be ‘responsive to need’, says minister

Kāinga Ora needs to be ‘responsive to need’, says minister

04 Jul 06:00 PM

'We want to take a very detailed specific look at what Whanganui needs' – Chris Bishop.

Work begins on key phase of port project

Work begins on key phase of port project

04 Jul 06:00 PM
Pop star to speak on new book at Whanganui Literary Fest

Pop star to speak on new book at Whanganui Literary Fest

04 Jul 04:57 PM
Premium
Gardening: Pruning deciduous fruit trees and roses

Gardening: Pruning deciduous fruit trees and roses

04 Jul 04:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP