ATASCADERO — In honor of National Chip Your Pet Month, Woods Humane Society announces four free microchip clinics to help members of the public protect their pets. The free clinics will be held on Thursday, May 9, and Thursday, May 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Woods San Luis Obispo location and on Friday, May 10, and Friday, May 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Woods North County location.

Woods CEO Emily L’Heureux explains that a microchip is about the size of a grain of rice and is implanted just under the skin. Each chip contains a unique code that can be easily scanned by a veterinarian or an animal shelter employee to look up the pet owner’s contact information in an online database.

“Microchips are tiny, affordable, and incredibly simple, but they make an enormous difference for lost pets,” she says. “They can help them reunite seamlessly with their owners, keep them out of the shelter, and ultimately save their lives.”

The American Humane Association estimates that only 15 percent of lost dogs and 2 percent of lost cats in shelters without ID tags or microchips are reunited with their owners.

“In advance of summer adventures and Fourth of July fireworks, it is crucial that pet owners protect their pets by microchipping and making sure their microchip registration is up to date with current contact information,” L’Heureux says. “We hope our free clinics in May will give more pet owners access to these potentially life-saving devices.”

Microchips normally cost $20 at Woods Humane Society, but the fee has been waived for participants in the May microchip clinics thanks in part to the support of microchip company 24PetWatch.

Local pet owners can make an appointment to get their pets microchipped for free on Thursday, May 9 and 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Woods’ San Luis Obispo location, and on Friday, May 10 and 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Woods’ Atascadero location.

For more information, visit woodshumane.org/adoptions/microchip/ or call (805) 543-9316.

Woods Humane Society is located at 875 Oklahoma Ave., in San Luis Obispo, and at 2300 Ramona Road, in Atascadero.