The Humane Society of Elkhart County has installed the region’s first self-serve microchip scanner at Studebaker Park in Elkhart, offering a new way to help lost pets return home without a stressful trip to the shelter.
The scanner is located in the parking lot next to the park’s boat ramp on McDonald Street. It allows anyone who finds a lost pet to scan it for a microchip, look up the registered owner, and contact them directly.
“We kind of got the idea from Baltimore,” said Rob Laroy, executive director of the Humane Society of Elkhart County. “They started putting chip scanners around, you know. The more and more animals we get chipped, the easier it is to find out who they belong to.”
The kiosk includes instructions to guide users through the scanning process and database lookup. Laroy said the tool could help reduce the number of animals entering the already busy shelter system.
“People can scan it themselves,” he said. “There’s all instructions there, so you can look up who the animal belongs to, contact them, and get the animal back without them ever coming to the shelter.”
Laroy added that the scanner also empowers the public to be part of the solution in reuniting lost pets with their families.
“We’re a pretty small staff here, so any volunteer help we can get—we’re always looking for people to come in and help,” he said.
The Humane Society hopes the Studebaker Park scanner will serve as a model for other locations in the future.
