You may think that your pet is protected from getting lost. But accidents happen, and some things - like hurricanes and other natural disasters - are out of your control. In fact, one in three pets will become lost during their lifetime. And according to the American Humane Association, only about 17 percent of lost dogs and 2 percent of lost cats ever find their way back to their original owners. Almost 4 million pets are euthanized every year because their owners can't be found in time - if a shelter cannot determine a pet's owner, the pet may be euthanized in as few as three days. To help give your pet the best chance of being identified should it ever become lost, have it implanted with a microchip.

Tags and collars are a good start - they're certainly better than no ID at all - but they aren't 100 percent dependable. Tags can fade, rust, or get scratched, making them impossible to read. Collars can tear or slip off, or get caught on something while your pet is wandering. With a microchip, on the other hand, your pet's source of identification is always available. To microchip your pet, a veterinarian injects a tiny chip about the size of a grain of rice just under your pet's skin between the shoulder blades. .

When a lost pet is found, any animal hospital, shelter, or humane society can use a special handheld microchip scanner to read our microchip's unique ID number. The veterinarian or shelter then contacts the manufacturer's database. The manufacturer will match the number to a name and phone number, reuniting the lost pet with its owner.