I’m a co-founder of a new Tucson pet friendly event. It’s called the Tucson Canine Classic. It’s a 5K or 1 mile walk/run on June 27, 2009 with a pet festival during and after the event. We’re promoting microchip awareness, along with healthy pets and families. Microchip awareness is close to my heart because every week I go to the pound and take pictures of stray dogs. I don’t usually know the fate of the dogs, but I know I wouldn’t be there if those dogs all had microchips. The first thing they do when a dog is brought in is scan for a microchip. If there is one, they may have access to the owners phone number and address. This is a statistic that really hits me: “Less than two percent of cats and only 15 to 20 percent of dogs are returned to their owners. Most of these were identified with tags, tattoos or microchips.” I found that on the ASPCA website. It really puts things in perspective for me and motivates me to help make a change.

Anyways, I could talk all day about microchipping pets. Check out the website and come to the event. It’ll be a ton of fun!

www.tucsoncanineclassic.org