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Topic: My cat has a microchip
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Lima Bean
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3000
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posted 22 November 2002 11:10 AM
Yeah, that's kinda what I'm afraid of.Cuz once the chip's in there, you can't get it out again. If a baby gets one he or she will have it for life. And is it a homing beacon, or just an implanted name tag? Does it pick up information in addition to storing what they originally put on it? What the heck is it??? Poor, poor, marked Harvey... (Admittedly, I am quite paranoid about my personal information and privacy. Just seems like it's actually the final frontier. And we all know what they did to the frontiers... ) [ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: Lima Bean ]
From: s | Registered: Aug 2002
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Tommy_Paine
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 214
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posted 22 November 2002 12:27 PM
quote: I want to get my cat chipped
I've been sorely tempted to do this myself. So much so, I checked with the city, and they assured me that in London, only flora can be treated thus, anything else will get you in trouble with the law. Canada, there's a law against everything here, it seems.
From: The Alley, Behind Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: Apr 2001
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Tommy_Paine
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 214
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posted 23 November 2002 05:06 AM
She should have, really. At the time she bought Zoetheevilcatfromthedeepestpitsofhell, we already had a cat, Shadow, and of course Tasha our German Shepard. In fact, when I said "no" to my ex about getting another cat, it was one of the few times I ever actually said "no". I was ignored. As it turns out, with losing Shadow to a virus and Tasha to spinal myalopthia, Zoetheevilcatfromthedeepestpitsofhell is our only pet-- discounting the semi-wild colony of sparrows in the back yard. When my ex and I separated, the first thing she did was to go out and buy a cat for herself. A couple of months ago, my eldest rescued a starving kitten from the street, so now my ex has two. My girls are pressuring me hard for another dog. They don't know how much I'd like one. And, they don't understand how, even almost two years after I held Tasha for the last time and told her she was a good dog, and closed her eyes for her, how I'm really, really not up to it yet. So, Zoetheevilcatfromthedeepestpitsofhell will stay for a while.
From: The Alley, Behind Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: Apr 2001
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skdadl
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 478
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posted 23 November 2002 10:39 AM
We did discuss it, Trisha, and as I recall, we were all just purely horrified. I think that chipping people is still pretty exotic, but you're right: it's being done. What has proceeded apace much much more quickly is the radio collars (ankle-collars, I think) that are now commonly being put on parolees in the U.S. Maybe their use has spread further than that -- I think I read that that nice guy from Quebec who was being held in jail in Maine for buying gas at his local station (which just happened to be half-over the international border) might have had to wear a radio anklet if he'd been let out on bail. That's not a parolee: that's someone who's only been charged, not convicted. [ November 23, 2002: Message edited by: skdadl ]
From: gone | Registered: May 2001
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jeff house
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 518
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posted 23 November 2002 04:08 PM
I am not quite up on the details, but I understand that in the US, a new law will enter into force next year requiring all cell phone companies to include a chip which will allow the bearer's location to be accessed at all times, whether using the phone or not.The information can then be saved on computer, so that "they" will be able to ascertain your location at all times, present and past. The phones so equipped will be sold worldwide. Even now, your location can be computed when you are actually using your cell phone. In Toronto, a bunch of nasties were convicted of first degree murder in large part because their cell phone records showed them converging on, then diverging from, the homicide scene at the precise moments when the killing occurred. So, maybe people will be able to buy their cat a cell phone, and use that?
From: toronto | Registered: May 2001
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sheep
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2119
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posted 25 November 2002 03:51 PM
That cat chip holds nothing but a number. The vet, or whomever, scans the number, then calls up a database which matches the number against their records to find out your name, address, etc. The chip itself doesn't hold any data other than that number.I suppose if you're really paranoid about security you can give PetNet false information, and if your cat is lost, immediately phone them up and correct their records. Then give them a fake one again when you find your cat. But it seems to me to be a lot of trouble just to avoid having your name in a database. I hear that the phone company, the gas company, and the motor vehicles department tracks the same kind of information about you. So far I've rescued two strays that were returned to their owners within an hour of having the chip read by the vet, so I think it's a pretty good idea and I think that Toronto Cat Rescue is right to insist upon it. Actually I just adopted two cats from them last week and I was happy to see the adoption fee included both neutering and a microchip.
From: Vancouver | Registered: Jan 2002
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radiorahim
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2777
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posted 10 December 2002 12:56 AM
Low-powered VHF radio transmitters have been attached to animals in wildlife studies in order to track their movements.They've been attached to polar bears, wolves and even once I heard to skunks in Scarborough! The critical problem for any transmitting device is powering it and with very low power you can't get much range. For those of you with cellular telephones though, you make it a whole lot easier for "big brother" to track you down. The microchip that's implanted in animals is just a data storage device. You have to have some means to retrieve the data. BTW my cat has one too!
From: a Micro$oft-free computer | Registered: Jun 2002
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