SAN DIEGO (KSWB/KUSI) — After a microchip company abruptly shut down, animal shelters and related organizations have started to warn pet owners to re-register their animals with a different service.

According to a report by CBS News, Save This Life, a microchip company based out of Texas, recently ceased operations, leaving pets within their database no longer registered.

The company’s last Instagram post was dated Dec. 16, 2024, advertising its microchip service for $19.99.

The company was integrated with the American Animal Hospital Association Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool, which is meant to help people reunite with lost pets, according to its website.

On Monday, AAHA’s list of participating companies was updated to say Save This Life was removed on Jan. 24.

After Save This Life went dark, a social media post began making the rounds on the accounts of several animal rescue organizations, including Animal Rescuers Without Borders.

“The URGENT issue for you as a pet owner is that they have unlinked their database from the national registries. Currently — if your pet were to become lost, there is NO way for any shelter or veterinary hospital to find your information. You MUST register your pet’s microchip with a new company,” the post states.

How to know if you need to re-register your pet

If you know what company your pet’s microchip is registered with – and it wasn’t Save This Life – then you’re in the clear. But what if you don’t know the company you used when you microchipped them? Or if they were microchipped before you adopted them?

You may have to get the chip scanned to get to the bottom of it. Your veterinarian can likely help you with this, and local animal shelters can also check.

Once you have the microchip scanned, you’ll get a 9-, 10- or 15-digit number that you can enter into the AAHA lookup tool. That will give you the company (or companies) the pet is registered with.

If you find your pet was registered with Save This Life, you may want to consider re-registering them with a different company. The concern is if they get lost, and someone were to scan their old microchip, they’d be led to contact a company that’s no longer in operation, and therefore not able to give out pet owner information.

AAHA lists dozens of other companies that are integrated into its lookup database if you’re looking for an alternative company to register with.