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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Pittsfield ConCom OKs Stairs at Pontoosuc Lake

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
04:59AM / Friday, August 07, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Shoreline access stairs are coming to the south side of Pontoosuc Lake.

Last week, the Conservation Commission approved an amendment to the Order of Conditions for work at Pontoosuc Lake Park. There will be two stair sets on the south shoreline, and additional bank stabilization.

In 2025, the park's south side saw new stairs from the parking lot, a boardwalk, and other improvements. Later phases of the project will enhance the north side of the park for swimming, and remedy a concrete barrier wall that is partially underwater.

"Generally, what we're looking to do at Pontoosuc Lake Park is install some stair sets in two locations to help folks access from up above the bank, over the bank, and into the water," Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath explained during the July 23 meeting.

"We're sensitive to some of the issues that are currently existing on the bank, and we're also sensitive to some of the needs for lake recreation out there."

Stairs for water access will be placed on the shoreline at the beginning of the boardwalk, where it is highly eroded, and the second staircase will be at the extreme western end of the project area, which has around 100 feet of highly eroded bank.

Additional brush layering will also stabilize the bank.

An area near the boat ramp where live stakes were vandalized will see them replanted after the ConCom found some of the bank erosion was worse than believed on a site visit last year.

The city originally proposed not replanting the area where live stakes were removed.

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