Wakulla Animal Group has placed 10 microchip scanning stations across Wakulla County and Woodville to help get lost pets back to their owners faster without requiring a visit to a shelter or veterinarian.WATCH FULL REPORT BELOW : Wakulla Animal Group places microchip scanning stations across the county to reunite lost pets with ownersA microchip is a device implanted on an animal that stores an individual code used to identify the pet and its owner. The scanning stations allow anyone who finds a lost pet to read that chip and locate the owner directly.Teresa Brannan, the president of Wakulla Animal Group, says the stations are designed to speed up reunions."The purpose of the microchip scanning stations is to reunite pets with their owners as soon as possible. If someone finds your pet, instead of having to immediately take them to the shelter or to a vet to get scanned or if it's after hours they bring them to one of our microchip scanning stations and they can locate the owner right away and reunite the pet with the owner as soon as possible," Brannan said.According to the Wakulla County Animal Shelter, 311 lost pets were brought into the shelter this year alone.Brannan says the stations also help conserve shelter resources, since pets can be returned to their owners directly."You don't have to call the county to come out and pick up a stray dog or pick up a dog that you think may have an owner that you're afraid to pick up. It saves county resources by them not having to get involved," Brannan explained.The stations are especially important as hurricane season increases the risk of pets going missing. Brannan described how a pet can become lost even during an evacuation."If they evacuate, you never know where you may get out of the vehicle, go to a gas station, go to a rest stop, and you open the door and your dog or cat bolts from the vehicle because they're scared, and you're out of town. And then even if they're out of town, someone, they can take the animal somewhere and get it, like, you know, get it scanned for the chip, and it can get back to you," Brannan said.Brannan added that microchipping can reunite pets with their owners across long distances."Animals have been found across the country from where they originated because of a microchip, and they've been reunited with, you know, the owners," Brannan said.She also noted the value of the stations during off hours."Most businesses, or animal shelters close at five. If you find a dog running down 319 at 11 o'clock at night, you could take it to one of our scanning stations and locate the owner. The owner may already be out looking for the pet," Brannan said.The importance of microchipping came to life during the reporting of this story. After the interview with Brannan concluded, a lost dog was found running along Highway 319. The dog, named Lidy, belonged to Christian and Jennifer Masters, who had let him outside briefly before he got loose.Christian and Jennifer Masters described the experience of having Lidy go missing."Terrifying, because, while he's super friendly, he's also a herding dog and can get very playful," Jennifer said."And he can take off. He's fast," Christian said.Lidy was reunited with his family. Both said microchipping is important and that they were glad Lidy was chipped in case someone else had found him first.While Lidy was reunited without the use of a scanning station in this instance, his microchip would have made it possible to identify his owners regardless of who found him.Here is a map showing the microchip scanning stations: This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website. Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.Like us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram and X. ...read more read less