On November 19, CASPIAN released a new paper called “Microchip-Induced Tumors in Laboratory Rodents and Dogs: A Review of the Literature 1990–2006″, which shows a causal link between microchips and cancer in lab rats and dogs.

You can download the report, as well as other articles of interesting at the AntiChips website.

AP first brought the public’s attention to this in September but before that, only small academic circles were aware of the problem.

As stated on the AntiChip site, “The report evaluates eleven articles previously published in toxicology and pathology journals. In six of the articles, between 0.8% and 10.2% of laboratory mice and rats developed malignant tumors around or adjacent to the microchips. Two additional articles reported microchip-related cancer in dogs. See Original Research Articles section below for details.

“In almost all cases, the malignant tumors, typically sarcomas, arose at the site of the implants and grew to surround and fully encase the devices. These fast-growing, malignant tumors often led to the death of the afflicted animals. In many cases, the tumors metastasized or spread to other parts of the animals. The implants were unequivocally identified as the cause of the cancers.”

These days, almost all the dogs in Perth are microchipped, so that they can be returned to their rightful owners if they go walkabout.

Several years ago, my vet asked me if I wanted to think about getting all my ferrets microchipped. Knowing what escape artists they were, it seemed a sensible idea to their details on hand if they got out of the house and wandered off. That way we could reasonably assume that we’d get our ferrets back once they were scanned by a vet’s office or the pound or wherever.

It was tempting, but I confess that I was a little skeptical about vets thinking of scanning a found ferret to see if it did have a microchip. And it also was around the time when our kids were leaving the nest so the chances of our ferrets being let out accidentally were reduced considerably.

I decided not to do anything and now am quite glad that I didn’t. We did have our German Shepherd microchipped and — touch wood — she seems to be fine. She’s almost 12 years old and is in pretty good health.

Would microchips be more dangerous to ferrets than dogs because they are small animals? I don’t know, but I certainly have no plans to microchip any of my ferrets now in the light of this report.

There is also more on the dangers of microchipping at this site here if you want to learn more about it.

Other articles you might like;

Filed under: Ferrets as Pets

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