Every year, more than 1.7 million pets go missing around the country. Anyone who has dealt with the heartache of posting flyers and walking shelter aisles knows the reunification process is never easy to navigate.

Little Whiskers Animal Rescue is looking to shorten that process by bringing Arizona’s first microchip scanning station to Maricopa this month.

“We receive quite a few calls daily asking if we can scan for a microchip … but that can be a time-consuming process, so we kind of looked at what if we just had like a public one,” said President Brittney McCarthy.  

That’s because it requires the person who finds a lost pet to contact an animal shelter, rescue or veterinary office, then find time to take the animal in for scanning. That process can take hours.  

The new stations in Maricopa can help cut out the middleman and save valuable hours.  

The kiosks will be equipped with a handheld scanner, which can be slowly waved over the pet’s body to check for microchips. If one is found, the scanner will give the chip number and instructions are provided on how to report the number so the pet’s owner can be notified.  

If a microchip isn’t found, the kiosk will give information about what to do next, such as contacting Little Whiskers or other animal rescues and shelters in the area.  

McCarthy said the stations were made possible through a National Humane Society program.

The first scanning station will be installed at Stagestop Marketplace within the next two weeks, followed by other stations outside Petco on John Wayne Parkway and in Hidden Valley, which McCarthy called “a dumping ground.” 

She said the stations would equate to “one less animal in a rescue,” where they may encounter many stressors, get sick or even be transferred out of the county or state if not returned home within a short timeframe.  

“Normally the animals are really excited to go back home. That’s really what we want,” McCarthy said.