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About Us

 

How we got here

Established in 1989, Central Animal Records commenced operation as one of Australia's first animal microchip registries. Since its inception, Central Animal Records has worked closely with Local and State Governments and their affiliates, animal welfare organisations, the pet industry, practising veterinarians and the Australian Veterinary Association, to become and continue to be, one of the leading companion animal microchip registries in Australia. Central Animal Records was also the first to adopt a 24 hour per day, 7 day per week animal recovery service, that ensured that an operator was available at any time of the day or night to assist with the reunion of owners with their lost or injured pets. In 1998, Central Animal Records became the first microchip registry to be approved by the Domestic Animal Registries Incorporated - the registry watchdog at that time. In 2004 Central Animal Records became the first microchip registry in Australia to be nationally accredited by the Australian Veterinary Association. In 2006 Central Animal Records became the first accredited and audited companion animal microchip registry by the Victorian Government under legislation. It is now also accredited under Queensland legislation and approved in other States and Territories in Australia. In 2017 Central Animal Records took over the management of all data and services previously maintained by the National Pet Register, the third largest companion animal microchip registry in Australia at the time. Central Animal Records is the largest companion animal microchip registry in Australia with over 5 million animals and 3.8 million owners listed on the database and has been responsible for facilitating over 2.3 million reunions of lost pets with their owners!

What we do

Our major role is and has always been the operation of one of Australia's leading companion animal microchip registries. In this role, we operate a 24-hour, 7 day per week animal recovery service – essentially we are available at any time and on any day of the year. We work closely with veterinary clinics, animal welfare agencies, State governments, legislation developers, municipal councils (and their representative associations in all Australian States and Territories), microchip distributors, pet owners, pet breeders and the Australian Veterinary Association (both at National and State level). We have established a functional system integrated with other accredited national microchip registries that helps ensure lost or stolen animals can be returned to their owners as soon as possible. We offer a lifetime subscription product for companion animals identified by implanted microchips. Animal/Owner data is maintained for the lifetime of the animal and beyond.

The following components are part of a suite of services available with our companion animal subscription product:

  1. Establishment and recording of pet owner data and the creation of the lifetime subscription on the registry.
  2. Certificate of Identification or Identification Acknowledgement available as soon as the subscription is listed and emailed, sent by SMS or posted directly to the pet owner.
  3. Uniquely numbered external identification tag or SMART QR tag that is linked to subscription.
  4. Availability of the animal recovery service 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days a year. Authorised users have 24 hour access to animal microchip records via their authorised log-in or by contacting CAR by phone to be able to locate the contact details of the owner or alternate contact to facilitate the reunion of lost or injured pets with their owners.
  5. Easy access to updating of animal and owner information by owners through an authorised log-in on-line or via email, fax or phone after proof of identity has been established.
  6. Ability of authorised implanters to log-in to the Central Animal Records website and enter new subscriptions to appear on the registry immediately after submission and to print Identification Certificates on-site. Authorised implanters can also view details of animals that they have previously implanted.  

Who we are - our ethos

CARMA For Animals

CARMA for Animals is a Central Animal Records initiative to help support animal welfare organisations across Australia. Many animal welfare organisations are often struggling for funding and rely heavily on public support. That is why, each year, we plan to set aside a percentage of the proceeds of every new Central Animal Records subscription across Australia and distribute that to each of at least six organisations throughout the year.

When pets are subscribed to Central Animal Records, not only can they be reunited with their family should they ever go missing, but each of those subscriptions will now also help other abandoned or lost pets find their forever homes.


In 2021 we are proud to be supporting the following organisations:

 

Green Initiatives: 

 

We are passionate about animals and concerned about our environment. Not only do we actively support animal welfare organisations and conservation projects, we have also taken significant steps to make our business more sustainable and help our clients do the same.

  

Humanitarian Projects

We are also equally committed to the support of humanitarian projects focused on social justice especially if those projects involve animal welfare as well. For this reason, we are proud to be supporters of the Pets in the Park initiative aimed at delivering free veterinary care for animals owned by homeless or disadvantage people and now operating in most capital cities and many regional centres in Australia. Together with Microchips Australia, we supply all microchips and lifetime CAR subscriptions to all Pets in the Park locations across Australia.

  

Reunion Stories

 

 

 

We encourage all pet owners to share their reunion stories with Central Animal Records and its users to help raise awareness about the importance of microchipping and keeping contact details up to date. We also hope that these stories will give hope to pet owners whose pets are still missing.

Every year we also select one story as our 'Reunion Story of the Year' which includes a grand prize valued at over $900.

  

What else we offer

V.I.Pet Opt-In Premium Service (Free 3-Month Trial Available)

 

 

 

From less than $1.00/month, pet owners can unlock 15 exclusive features for their online account. We know how much pets mean to their owners, which is why we have designed the V.I.Pet service to provide additional benefits to pet owners and their pets.

Features include; Pet Profile Pictures, Owner Profile Pictures, Active Recovery Service, Lost Pet Poster Studio, Monthly Newsletter, Custom Reminders, Medical Condition Listing, Area-Based Alerts, Exclusive Discounts (C.A.R.), Exclusive Discounts (Partners), Priority Phone Support, Pet Age Calculator, Personality Listing, Height & Weight Listing, Gold Theme, No Expiry (Lost Pet HUB), Priority Listing (Lost Pet HUB), Additional Fields (lost Pet HUB), Missing V.I.Pet List (Lost Pet HUB) & MORE COMING SOON!

*The free trial is only available to users who have not had a VIPet trial or subscription previously

 

Lost Pet HUB

 

 

 


 

When owners mark their pet as missing or stolen, they have the option to list their pet on our public Lost Pet HUB. Other users will then be able to see basic information about the pet and can submit a report directly to the owner when the pet is seen or found.

The Lost Pet HUB is a free service, however V.I.Pet owners will be have additional benefits such as their listings appearing first and the option to add additional details to their pet’s Lost Pet HUB listing (including pet photo, optional reward, last seen location and contact number) with no expiry for the listing.

  

Other Registry Services

Central Animal Records not only provides a 24 hour national recovery service for microchipped pets, but also offers a range of registry and data management services to many Government and non-Government agencies. In each case, ownership of the data does not reside with Central Animal Records - we merely act as a service provider and are subject to very specific guidelines including external audit to ensure privacy, data integrity and appropriate and timely service delivery. We also provide registry services for other organisations and companies. Essentially, we act as a service provider, utilising our expertise to provide a centralised national or international registry and data maintenance service that can be customised to suit a great number of applications. In doing so, we pride ourselves in developing and implementing protocols that ensure data integrity and security using the significant investment that we make in our team members, resources and technology, to provide you with the best product. Further, we can also provide a number of specific components that can add value to your own product such as Certificates of Identification, Identification Acknowledgements, linked numbered external tags and linkage to other existing identification systems.

Our experience since inception in 1989 and our demonstrable commitment to service and data integrity, make it attractive for organisations to seek and utilise our services rather than develop their own.