A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Alma Anderson of Northern Lakes Rescue holds a kitten while a tiny microchip is inserted under its skin. Inserting the microchip under the animal's skin takes just a few seconds, although soothing the animal afterward or assessing its behavior beforehand can take a lot longer.
Esko's Kris Anton checks in Rufus and his owner, Charlie Kedrowski, during Saturday's free microchipping event in Cloquet. The two drove from Cromwell to participate in the clinic, which was free to Carlton County residents.
Neal Fisher is a co-founder of Northern Lakes Rescue. He said getting a pet microchipped is vital.
Cloquet's Meredith Kujala, right, prepares meds for the line of pets coming through Saturday's free microchipping clinic, where owners could also take advantage of discounted vaccinations for their dogs. Alma Anderson helped out.
Although the free microchipping event was set to begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at Veterans Park in Cloquet, pet owners and their furry friends started lining up for the drive-through event long before that. By start time, cars were lined up down Avenue B and around the corner on Broadway Avenue as far back as the MinuteMart, Cloquet police commander Dave O'Connor said.
A total of 210 animals got free microchips Saturday, courtesy of a partnership between Northern Lakes Rescue, the city of Cloquet and Carlton County, which both contributed funds toward the costs of microchipping while Northern Lakes volunteers and Cloquet police officers staffed the event.
Charlie Kedrowski brought his 10-week-old puppy, Rufus, from Cromwell for a microchip. They live in a rural area and he plans to take the yellow lab hunting in the future, so Kedrowski figured he'd better be safe than sorry.
"This way if he gets lost, I hope someone will find him and scan him and get him back to us," Kedrowski said.
Proctor's Neal Fisher - a co-founder of Northern Lakes Rescue - said getting a pet microchipped is vital.
"Chipping has a 90 percent return rate," Fisher said. "With the amount of stray dogs and cats we see, it's really important." People took advantage of other discounted services offered by Northern Lakes Rescue Saturday, including nail trims and distemper and bordetella vaccinations.
Northern Lakes Rescue is not a shelter, it is a rescue and depends on volunteers to foster animals that are rescued. Although the main office is in the Pequot Lakes area, about 70 percent of their volunteers and foster homes are in this part of the state. Find out more at http://www.northernlakesrescue.org.
Saturday's event was the second for Cloquet and Carlton County since the Friends of Animals Humane Society closed.
