Del Monte Heights Pet Owners: Seaside Animal Control Offers Microchip Guidance and Chip Scans by Phone

DEL MONTE HEIGHTS / SEASIDE, Monterey County — October 30, 2026. Pet owners in Del Monte Heights who are not sure whether their dog or cat has a readable microchip have a local contact to start with. The City of Seaside Animal Control Officer offers guidance about pet microchipping and can help arrange a scan of an existing chip, according to a public city announcement dated July 1, 2026. Seaside residents are asked to call (831) 899-6744 to ask about microchipping or schedule a quick chip scan.

This service is different from visiting an animal shelter to adopt a pet, and it is not the same as the one-day low-cost spay-and-neuter clinic Seaside held in October. The city’s July notice does not specify a free implantation program, walk-in hours, a guaranteed same-day appointment or an exact price. Call the officer first and ask about eligibility, location, costs if any, and whether a chip implantation or scan is available.

Why scan a pet that was already microchipped?

An implanted microchip provides a unique identification number that veterinarians and shelters can read with a compatible scanner. When someone finds a lost animal, staff can use that number to identify the appropriate registry and seek the owner’s contact information. But a chip is not a GPS tracker and does not tell anyone the animal’s current location. It also does not automatically update an owner’s phone number after a move.

The American Veterinary Medical Association advises that pet owners keep their registration up to date and have the chip read during routine checkups to confirm it still works. Its guidance explains that the number on the chip is separate from the owner’s information in the registry. A successful scan alone does not mean the owner’s contact information is current.

How to check the registration

If a veterinarian or Animal Control Officer reads the chip and provides its identification number, use the American Animal Hospital Association’s microchip registry lookup to identify the company that may hold the pet’s registration. That lookup does not display private owner details and cannot itself update the owner’s address or telephone number; you generally must contact the actual registry.

Record the chip number, keep any paperwork from the veterinary provider or shelter, and make sure the pet’s collar tag contains current contact information. A chip is an important backup when a collar is lost, not a replacement for visible identification. The national registry ecosystem includes multiple companies, so there is no single government website where every U.S. pet’s chip details are maintained.

Which office should Del Monte Heights residents call?

The Seaside announcement identifies the City Animal Control Officer at (831) 899-6744 for microchipping questions and scans. If your issue is reclaiming a missing pet in the county shelter, visit the Monterey County Animal Services resource and verify its current animal-reclaiming requirements. The two organizations may cooperate, but city chip-scan assistance should not be described as a guaranteed county shelter appointment.

If a pet is missing right now, contact animal services and nearby shelters promptly, check current lost-and-found postings and notify the chip registry; a scheduled routine chip scan is not an emergency tracking solution. Be careful about sharing private owner contact information in public social-media comments or responding to unverified payment requests claiming to have recovered an animal.

Published source and limitations

Official local source: City of Seaside Police Media Release, “Seaside Residents Can Contact Animal Control for Pet Microchipping and Chip Scans,” July 1, 2026. Technical references: AVMA microchip owner FAQ and AAHA microchip registry lookup. California58 has not verified a particular appointment slot, fee or current pet’s registration status, and the article should not be read as evidence those details have been confirmed.

Send documented corrections to California58 Newsroom.

Featured image: an illustrative dog veterinary visit by Karsten Winegeart / Unsplash, not a City of Seaside animal-control microchip scan.

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