Megan Navarro
HAYS COUNTY — Countless lost pets are brought into shelters because of the challenges faced when trying to identify their owners. Knowing this, Jennifer Neill of Hill Country Rescue & Recovery knew that she wanted to launch an initiative to install microchip scanning stations throughout Hays County.
The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization is committed to serving the community with compassion in times of crisis, offering support and resources that restore hope, and protecting those that matter the most. This includes rescuing dogs, an idea which started in February 2025, when Neill worked to help find Heidi, a 16-year-old missing dog in Dripping Springs, after seeing a Facebook post.
She worked to make signs and flyers to display throughout the area, while also sharing resources, like a local pet tracking option with access to thermal drones, with the family, according to previous reporting by the Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch.
“It took the Austin groups several days to come out to send a drone and that's really all they did,” Neill recalled. “They really didn't help with much else because we never had any sightings of her, but I made signs for them, I put out flyers on people's doors and mailboxes and we just tried to get the word out. We never found that dog.”
Now, Neill and Hill Country Rescue & Recovery are partnering with local fire departments and other groups to install community microchip scanning stations across the county.
The organization has previously partnered with Prevent a Litter (PALS) of Central Texas to host microchipping events in the community. The scanning stations would be an extension of that work, Neill explained, as it has brought up questions, such as if people want to get their pets microchipped and where they go to fulfill that need.
Along with helping reunite lost pets with their families faster, the goal is also to reduce shelter intake — even if it’s just by 5% — and empower the community to take an active role in animal rescue, Neill continued.
“Let's create this community system where if somebody sees a dog running down the road with a collar on, that animal is probably owned. It probably isn't dumped. It's probably not just a stray. Is somebody more likely to stop and pick that animal up if they can and take it to get the chip read if they have one and reunite it? It creates less of a burden on animal control, the shelters, all of that helps keep animals safe and off the roads if people are more likely to pick them up,” she said. “If I know the shelters are full and I can't take this dog home and I see a dog running down the street, what do I do? I mean, nothing. I can't. If I have problematic dogs at my house and the shelter is going to tell me ‘no’ or I have to wait for an intake appointment, people just aren't going to try to help those dogs. This is a resource, so that people feel like they have an option to try to get this dog back to where it belongs.”
Microchips are all registered with the companies that they are provided through, so when a person uses one of the readers or scanners, it will bring up the number for the company, who then has the contact information for the pet’s owner.
In order to protect the owner’s information from the public, the chip company will contact them and help reunite the pet with their family.
“When the public calls in, which will be the instance with these chip stations, the company will then take the finder's information, they will contact the owner and say, ‘Hey, we were contacted by this person who believes they have your pet, microchip number XYZ.’ So, that information is always protected and then, the owner will contact the finder,” Neill explained.
The initiative is fully funded by donations to Hill Country Rescue & Recovery, with each scanning station at approximately $500 each.
Neill shared that currently, the organization is in the first phase of getting 14 sites in the county, partnering with host sites to include North Hays, Buda and Kyle fire stations, as well as Fitzhugh Brewing, but the ultimate goal is to have 20.
The stations are not yet installed, but Neill is anticipating to begin the work of having some of them off the ground in early-mid May.
Learn more about Hill Country Rescue & Recovery and stay up to date on the progess of the microship scanning stations at www.hillcountryrescuerecovery.org.
