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My dog's microchip: Is it safe? Can it be removed or deactivated?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Male | neutered | 2 years old | 95.2 lbs

Hi I recently went to petco to get my dogs vaccines. The vet there highly recommended the 24 petwatch microchip. Normally I would do research but I trusted her. I did some research and they are terrible. I Was just curious can you remove or deactivate a microchip?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on February 22nd, 2018

Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to remove a microchip, so that cannot be done. As for deactivating it, it's not an active item. It simply has a serial number that can be read by a scanner, and then the vet enters that serial number into a computer database to find the owner's information. I'm not sure what research you have done about it, but microchips are very safe. I truly caution about believing things found on the internet, as it's typically anecdotal evidence and not scientific evidence. Vets would not recommend a microchip if it were terrible or harmful to the animal, and I would trust your vet over things you read from sources on the internet. Your vet is the expert. I hope this helps!

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8Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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I was wondering if microchipping is safe. I have read they can move and be very unsafe.
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Can a tracker or micro-chip be reused (from one animal into another animal).
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I just had my female cat Zoe spayed and microchipped about 2 weeks ago. She is about 7 months now. The microchipped has moved from her shoulders down to almost her armpit. Is this normal or more importantly is this ok??? She doesn't act like it bothe
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