Animal News

Generous groups offer free microchips for pets in Little Elm

Who's a good dog?

TCAP

Pet owners of Little Elm are in line to get something valuable for free: Texas Coalition for Animal Protection (TCAP), Friends of the Little Elm Animal Shelter (FLEAS), and Hula Hut of Little Elm are partnering on an event to provide free microchips for cats and dogs.

Microchips are a method to identify your dog that is tamper-proof. A pet microchip is the size of a grain of rice, and goes beneath your pet's skin.

If pets get lost, a vet can check the microchip with a scanner. Radio waves put out by the scanner activate the chip. The chip transmits the ID number to the scanner, which displays the number on the screen. The pet can be reunited with its owner.

"Microchips work!" proclaims one DFW-area shelter, citing the latest example, stating, "Today we picked up a pug running stray. We scanned for a microchip and contacted the owner. Much to our dismay, Chato has been stolen from his owners months ago! We were so happy to be able to reunite these two!!"

The cost for a microchip from a vet clinic averages about $45 to $60. TCAP generally offers them at a discount price of $30. But thanks to funding from FLEAS and Hula Hut, microchips will be offered to Little Elm area pets for free. This offer includes the lifetime registration of the microchip via HomeAgain’s National Pet Recovery Database.

According to microchip manufacturer HomeAgain, one in three pets will go missing during their lifetime. Without proper ID, 90 percent won't return home.

This initiative, which will take place September 2 at the Little Elm Animal Shelter, aims to keep pets and their people together by subsidizing the cost of this service. It's from The Texas Coalition for Animal Protection (TCAP), a nonprofit that provides low-cost spay/neuter, vaccine, and wellness services to underserved communities across North Texas.

In addition to free microchipping, TCAP will offer low-cost vaccinations and wellness services for cats and dogs during the event. That includes a rabies vaccine for only $5.

"We are thrilled to partner with Friends of the Little Elm Animal Shelter to bring this special event to the community," says TCAP executive director Stacey Schumacher. "At TCAP, our mission is to end pet overpopulation and euthanasia. This event directly correlates to our mission by ensuring lost pets can return home and aren't euthanized in overloaded shelters."

When: September 2 from 10 am-12 pm.

Where: Little Elm Animal Shelter, at 1605 Mark Tree Ln.

animals

Unhappy holidays

Porch pirates pilfer nearly $2B worth of Texas packages, study shows

Porch Pirate Person in Glasses Steals Packages

Getty Images

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’Tis the season for porch pirates. If past trends are an indicator, the Grinch will swipe close to $2 billion worth of packages delivered to Texas households this year, with many of those thefts happening ahead of the holiday season.

An analysis of FBI and survey data by ecommerce marketing company Omnisend shows porch pirates stole more than $1.8 billion worth of packages from Texans’ porches last year. Porch pirates hit nearly one-third of the state’s households in 2024, according to the analysis.

Omnisend’s analysis reveals these statistics about porch piracy in Texas:

30.1 million residential package thefts in 2024.
An average household loss of $169 per year.
An annual average of 2.9 package thefts per household.

“Most stolen items are cheap on their own, but add them up, and retailers and consumers are facing an enormous bill,” says Omnisend.

Another data analysis, this one from The Action Network sports betting platform, unwraps different figures regarding porch piracy in Texas.

The platform’s 2025 Porch Pirate Index ranks Texas as the state with the highest volume of residential thefts, based on 2023-24 FBI data.

Researchers at The Action Network uncovered 26,293 reports of personal property thefts at Texas residences during that period. The network’s survey data indicates 5 percent of Texas residents had a package stolen in the three months before the pre-holiday survey.

The Porch Pirate Index calculates a 25.8 percent risk of a Texas household being victimized by porch pirates, putting it in the No. 5 spot among states with the highest risk of porch piracy.

The Action Network included online-search volume for terms like “package stolen” and “porch pirates.” Sustained spikes in these searches suggest that “people are actively looking for guidance after something has happened. Search trends serve as an early warning system, revealing emerging-risk areas well before annual crime statistics are released,” the network says.

Tips to avoid being a victim
So, how do you prevent porch pirates from snatching packages that end up on your porch? Omnisend, The Action Network and Amazon offer these eight tips:

Closely monitor deliveries and quickly retrieve packages.
Schedule deliveries for times when you’ll be home.
Use delivery lockers or in-store pickup when possible.
Ask delivery services to hide packages in out-of-sight spots outside your home.
Install a visible doorbell camera or security camera.
Coordinate deliveries with neighbors or building managers if you’ll be away from your home when packages are supposed to arrive.
Request that delivery services hold your packages if you can’t be home when they’re scheduled to come.
Illuminate the path to your doorstep and keep porch lights on.

holidays porch pirates crime