OGDEN, Utah — Marissa Hendriks’s dog Maverik is a bit of an escape artist, she said.
“My dog is only six months old, little stinker,” said Hendriks. “He got out. He's gotten out many times, and we keep trying to find ways to keep him in, and he's just able to get out again.”
In his most recent run down Highway 89 in Ogden, Maverik was found by Weber County Animal Control and taken to the shelter. When Hendriks called to pick him up, they told her she could not bring Maverik home until she paid for him to be microchipped, she said.
“I was really boggled by that,” said Hendriks. “Shouldn't that be a choice? They're like, ‘No, we can't let him go without putting a microchip in him.’ And I was like, ‘Well, that kind of goes against my beliefs, and I really don't appreciate being forced into that.’”
If an animal is rescued from the shelter, they have to be implanted with a chip before they leave, and the owner has to pay the fees for it, according to Weber County Code.
“It's a state law,” said Chad Averett, Director of the Weber County Animal Shelter. “It's also a county ordinance that we have to abide by. We don't make up the laws. We just enforce them, and we try to help them understand the reasoning behind it so that they can get their dog back.”
This law was passed a few years ago to help animals get back to their owners safer and faster, he said.
“Having that chip, we've been able to have a return rate of almost 100 percent,” said Averett. “Every time a dog has been chipped, we've been able to scan it and return it right back to its owner, doesn't even have to go to the shelter at all.”
Hendriks and other pet owners were not aware of this law, and she’s worried the chip could make her dog sick, she said.
“People have their right to not vaccinate their kids,” said Hendriks. “People have the right to not do this or that. I'm just asking, why do I not have the right to keep a microchip that I think is harmful out of my dog?”
