The below chart line lists the most common microchip identification numbers in distribution throughout the United States, the leading organizations that distribute them and the telephone numbers to the respective registries they belong to.
There are fewer microchip manufacturers than distributors.
There are fewer actual microchip manufacturers than there are companies that distribute them and for all intents and purposes, when referring to a microchip company, we are referring to Pet Recovery Service provider, an organization that A. distributes microchips to veterinary hospitals, shelters, rescue organizations, and breeders and B. has a registration database where pet owners can register their pet for a nominal fee, provides a team of telephone support reps that are available at all times of day to facilitate the prompt return of any found animal in their respective registry.
A microchip should therefore be enrolled with the pet recovery service that distributed the chip.
Microchip Identification numbers are now numeric only. In the perfect world, Microchips ID’s would have remained alphanumeric with an abbreviation of the distributor in front of the trailing numbers. A Peeva microchip, for example, would read PVA-991XXXXXXXXXXXX, AKC Reunite would read AKC-956XXXXXXXXX, AVID would read AVD-977XXXXXXXXXXXX, Bayer would read BYR-981XXXXXXXXXXXX and so on.
Peeva's Promise: Bring Your Lost Pet Home Faster
Do more with your pet’s microchip. Benefit from our 24/7 phone support and lost pet alerts, ensuring your pet is prioritized and protected.
Microchip Guide
Most common microchip identification numbers in the US by distribution.
Chip Format | Brand | # Digits | kHz | Registry | Contact |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
982XXXXXXXXXXXX 9A1XXXXXXX |
24 PetWatch | 15 (numeric) 10 (alphanumeric) |
132.4 kHz 125kHz |
24 PetWatch | 866.597.2424 |
956XXXXXXXXXXXX 4XXXXXXXXX TVNXXXXXXX |
AKC Reunite | 15 (numeric) 10 (alphanumeric) 9 (alphanumeric) |
134.2 kHz 128 kHz 125 kHz |
AKC Reunite | 800.252.7894 |
977XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXX*XXX*XXX |
AVID | 15 (numeric) 10 (alphanumeric) 9 (alphanumeric) |
134.2 kHz 128 kHz 125 kHz |
AVID | 800.336.2843 |
981010000XXXXXX 981XXXXXXXXXXXX 98102000XXXXXXX 0D0DXXXXXX 0A1XXXXXXX |
Bayer, Banfield, Datamars, Microfindr, ResQ | 15 (numeric) 10 (alphanumeric) 9 (alphanumeric) |
132.4 kHz 128 kHz 128 kHz |
PetLink | 877.PETLINK / 877.738.5465 |
7E1XXXXXXX | (Microchip ID Systems) | 10 (alphanumeric) | 128 kHz | Buddy ID | 800.434.2843 |
985XXXXXXXXXXXX 4XXXXXXXXX |
Home Again | 15 (numeric) 10 (alphanumeric) | 132.4 kHz | HomeAgain | 888.466.3242 |
991XXXXXXXXXXXX 900XXXXXXXXXXXX 990XXXXXXXXXXXX 992XXXXXXXXXXXX |
Peeva (Arf ID) | 15 (numeric) | 134.2 kHz | PEEVA | 833.PEEVA.CO / 833.733.8226 |
941XXXXXXXXXXXX | Petkey | 15 (numeric) | 134.2 kHz | Petkey | 734.600.3463 |
Want to share the microchip guide?
It’s important to note. Range matches do not mean enrollments.

If a microchip is registered with an AAHA Participating Pet Recovery Service, it will be clearly indicated with the Pet Recovery Service Provider’s logo, telephone number, and date of enrollment. If the company’s logo and date of enrollment are not displayed, the pet is NOT registered. Please be advised that our telephone support reps no longer have access to any distribution information for pets with our microchips that have gone unregistered.
Microchip identification numbers that begin with 981
Microfindr, Datamars, Bayer resQ, Crystal Tag and Banfield chips all begin with the prefix 981 which makes them difficult to track. All of which are legit companies with legit registries. They are actively searched individually and provide 24/7 telephone support.
The AAHA lookup tool was developed in response to this
The AAHA Lookup Tool was developed with the intention of providing busy veterinary professionals and shelter workers with a way to no longer search through multiple registries until a match was found. If a ‘company’ participates with the lookup tool, a microchip that is registered in their database can also be found in the lookup tool. When a microchip number is searched, the lookup tool makes an API call to each participating registry simultaneously and then provides the telephone number of any participating registry where the chip is registered.
It should never be assumed that a microchip is not registered if it can not be found in the AAHA lookup tool.
The largest microchip companies in the US by microchips in distribution; such as AVID, /EIDDigital Angel®, Bayer, ResQ, ALLFLEX®, Schering Plough, Lifechip®, Banfield®, Crystal Tag, Microfindr, Datamars, & Destron Fearing do not participate with the AAHA Lookup.
Two of the above largest microchip companies and registries in the US (Avid and Banfield) that have the prefix 977 and 981 respectively do not participate with the AAHA Lookup. Peeva selected a prefix beginning with 991 and we have recently become the default for this prefix.
In addition to the 981 and 991 chips, there are also lesser-known chips that begin with additional prefixes such as 900 that many newcomers to the microchip market can purchase at a lower cost per chip. This adds to the confusion, however, as these newcomers are all purchasing their chips from the same manufacturer directly and a unique 3 digit numeric prefix is not assigned by the manufacturer for each newcomer. This makes them impossible to track.
Always a few bad apples

