image description — Berkshire Humane Society's shelter manager Cheryl Truskowski shows how she checks for a microchip on a pet; inset, the size of the chip.

Shutdown of Pet Microchip Company Could Affect Lost Pets

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:30PM / Sunday, February 23, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Texas-based microchip company, Save This Life, has recently shut down without any notice to its users or a reason why.

The American Animal Hospital Association recently notified customers that they have taken Save This Life off its Microchip Registry Lookup, a tool to search what company a pet's microchip is linked to, after many attempts to contact and find out what was going on at the company.

Staff at Berkshire Humane Society told us how much this could impact people if their pet gets out and is not registered.

"If it's Save This Life, then if your dog or cat gets lost, there's no way of reaching you so you have to register with a different company," said shelter manager Cheryl Truskowski.

According to AAHA, if your pet's microchip starts with 991 or 900164 you may need to register your pet again. If you are unsure where your pet's microchip is registered, Berkshire Humane Society says you can come by and have it checked.

"If they don't know if they have a microchip that's based to [Save This Life], I'd be more than happy to scan their dog or cat and give them the number and I can look it up for them and find out where it's registered to," she said.

Truskowski said some pet owners don't realize their pets are not properly registered.

"The drawbacks of microchips -- their great, I love them, they work -- but when they are not registered to the owner it's extremely frustrating because now I have a dead end," she said. "That's the drawbacks of the microchips people don't update their registration or they don't register it in the first place."

It's important for you to always check to make sure your pet's microchip is up to date on contact information to reunite you with your pet if they go missing.

BuddyID is offering a free registration until Feb. 28 if your pets were affected by this shut down.

If you find that your pet's microchip needs to be changed make sure you reach out to a company to get it changed as soon as you can.

Tags: microchips, pets,

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Fenton: Governor's Council Must Deliver for the Berkshires

Community submissionGuest Column
10:22AM / Friday, August 28, 2026

I am a Springfield lawyer running for Governor's Council and I am asking for Berkshire County residents to support me over an incumbent from North Adams.

Here's why: Last year I learned about staffing issues in our regional courts that I could not ignore. In 2025, it was reported that four of Western Massachusetts' 11 Superior Court judgeships were vacant, all at the same time. A few weeks later, that grew to five vacancies. This meant there were only six Superior Court judges serving all of Western Mass at a time when Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties had more than 100 pending homicide cases.

Those numbers were alarming to me, so I started to engage with leaders in the community who work most closely with the court system and I came to learn that these vacancies were only the tip of the iceberg here in Berkshire County.

I learned that no Superior Court or District Court judge had been appointed from the Berkshires since the current incumbent took office. As a result, there is not a single Superior Court judge who lives in the Berkshires today, and several of the District Court judges drive in from other counties to support Berkshire courts in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and North Adams. Court staff also informed me about severe staffing shortages at the Berkshire Clerk of Courts office resulting in other counties needing to loan staff to the Berkshires just so hardworking employees can take a brief and planned summer vacation. This is not normal. These issues are a reflection of genuine problems with the Berkshire County court system and show a lack of proactive attention from our Governor's Councilor.

Instead of focusing on regional equity, I watched as the current incumbent celebrated that she has voted against the governor's nominees more than any other councilor, without much explanation as to why. Most recently, she voted against two extremely qualified former prosecutors for the Parole Board. This was despite an in-person plea from the governor and a letter of support from all the three of the district attorney's from Western Mass. Those votes do not show independence or standing up for principles, they demonstrate naivete, and an unwillingness to work with the key stakeholders.

I had seen and heard enough. I decided to jump in the race and challenge the incumbent to address these problems head-on.

I am a partner of a regional law firm. I understand our courts and the importance of having qualified, fair and hardworking judges. And I know how important it is to have judges from the Berkshires serving the Berkshires. To achieve that, you need strong relationships with the legal community and local stakeholders. You need to know how to use the power of the Governor's Council to fight forcefully for our region. And you need to be laser focused on identifying vacancies before they occur so that they can be filled quickly with local candidates.

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