When a dog goes missing in West Virginia, the odds are not in its favor.
Shelters across the state operate without a shared database. Microchip registries are fragmented across a dozen competing private companies, none of which are required to talk to each other. A chip scanned at a Kanawha County shelter may return no owner information — not because the dog was never chipped, but because the owner registered with a different company than the one the scanner queries.
This is not a technology problem. The technology has existed for decades. This is a policy problem — and it is one that West Virginia has the opportunity to fix.
The Scale of the Problem
Nationally, an estimated 10 million pets go missing each year. Studies consistently show that microchipped animals are returned to their owners at rates two to three times higher than unchipped animals. The barrier is not the chip itself — it’s the lookup.
In states without mandatory microchipping or registry standardization, the reunification rate for dogs in shelters hovers around 30%. In jurisdictions with coordinated identification infrastructure, that number climbs above 60%.
West Virginia sits in the lower tier. We have no statewide registry. We have no mandatory microchipping requirement. We have no interoperability standard for the scanners used by our animal control officers.
The result: families lose pets that could have come home.
Why the Market Won’t Fix This
The microchip registry industry has a structural incentive problem. There are currently over a dozen competing registries in the United States. Each one charges annual fees. Each one has an interest in keeping its data proprietary. None of them have a financial incentive to make lookup universal — because universal lookup would commoditize their product.
This is the classic case where market competition produces a worse outcome for consumers than a regulated standard would. We solved this problem in other domains. Vehicle identification numbers are standardized. Medical record interoperability is federally mandated. There is no principled reason why pet identification should be exempt from the same logic.
The industry will not self-regulate here. The lobbying pressure from registry companies against interoperability mandates is real and well-documented. The only path to a functional system is legislation.
What the BARK Act Proposes
The BARK Act — Breeder Accountability and Regulation for Kindness — is a proposed West Virginia statute that would:
- Require microchipping at the point of sale or adoption for dogs and cats in West Virginia
- Establish a state-maintained lookup layer that queries all participating registries from a single scan
- Mandate scanner interoperability for all licensed animal control facilities
- Create a public-benefit registry option at no cost to low-income pet owners
This is not a radical proposal. Versions of this framework have been implemented in the United Kingdom, Australia, and several U.S. municipalities. The evidence base is strong. The cost is low. The benefit — measured in reunited families — is substantial.
The Counterarguments, Addressed
“This is government overreach.” Mandatory vehicle registration is not considered overreach. Mandatory rabies vaccination is not considered overreach. A microchipping requirement for animals that will interact with the public and require public resources when lost is a reasonable regulatory burden — particularly when the cost of a microchip is under $50 and the cost of a shelter stay is far higher.
“Low-income families can’t afford it.” The BARK Act explicitly addresses this with a subsidized registry option and a voucher program for low-income households. The goal is universal coverage, not a compliance burden on families who can least afford it.
“Shelters don’t have the resources to enforce this.” The Act doesn’t require shelters to enforce anything new. It requires that the lookup infrastructure exist so that when a chip is scanned, the information is actually retrievable. The burden falls on registries and point-of-sale entities, not on already-strained shelter staff.
What Comes Next
PROVENIQ Foundation is actively working to advance this legislation. We are building the technical infrastructure — the lookup layer, the registry interoperability standard, the public-benefit registry — so that when the law passes, the system is ready to go live immediately.
We are also documenting the evidence base, engaging with shelter operators across the state, and building the coalition of veterinarians, rescue organizations, and animal control professionals who understand why this matters.
If you work in animal welfare in West Virginia, we want to hear from you. If you have lost a pet and want to share your story, we want to hear from you. If you are a legislator or legislative staffer who wants to understand the technical details, we are ready to brief you.
The technology exists. The evidence is clear. What we need now is the political will to act.
PROVENIQ Foundation is a West Virginia nonprofit corporation advancing technology-driven solutions for animal welfare and asset reunification. The BARK Act is a proposed statute developed in partnership with shelter operators, veterinarians, and animal welfare advocates across the state.