Microchips to be Mandatory for Lawton, Oklahoma Pet Owners

While the star of the last Lawton City Council meeting was what would become of the extra $5.5 million in tax dollars, there was a small discussion about pets and microchips that gained almost universal support.

Lawton is working to draft legislation that will require all dogs and cats within city limits to have microchips implanted in them.

It's a move to hopefully reduce the number of animals that come in and stay at the Lawton Animal Welfare shelter, the idea being they'll be able to track down owners of lost pets.

According to the statistics, Lawton Animal Welfare took in a little over 3,700 cats and dogs last year. Officials were only able to reunite a little over 12% of those animals with their families.

Since microchips contain contact information for pet owners, the hope is it will reduce the number of animals at the shelter each month.

The cost.

Obviously, the initial reaction will be the same as it always is from the general public... "How much is this going to cost me?!?"

I reached out to Lawton Animal Welfare to see if this is a service they offer, they don't... but the wonderfully nice lady I talked to advised that it generally costs +/-$50 on average, but that Petco and Petsmart usually run promotions to do this much cheaper.

As a reminder, all pets in Lawton must have a license from the city. I'm not sure what the punishment is for ignoring this requirement, but I'd hate to be caught without my papers by the chief revenue collectors.

The city council will vote on this measure at a later date.