The Reno Fire Department Station Three just got a new microchip reader.

The Reno Fire Department is adding a pet microchip reader to Fire Station 3.

The Nevada Humane Society announced they're at 90% capacity for dogs and 100% capacity for cats.

With the 4th of July coming up often times pets run away from home because they're startled by the loud noises from fireworks.

Microchipping your pet gives you a chance to find them more easily if they run away.

Jerleen Bryant, the CEO of the Nevada Humane Society says the reason microchipping is important is because they want to be able to reunite lost pets to their owners, so they don't end up in the shelters.

"If you find a lost pet at 2 'o'clock in the morning and you bring that pet to the fire station, number 3 is where we are, or fire station number 1, then a firefighter will scan that pet with this little device right here go to a website and look and see who the chip manufacturer is and then that chip manufacturer will reach out to the registered owner of that pet and let them know where their lost pet is," she said.

The microchip scanner is an instantaneous way for people to find their pets. Getting your pet microchipped isn't harmful to the animal. It's the equivalent to getting a vaccine. It's a way for the pet to get a permanent identification.

It's also important to note that microchips are not trackers, it's only an electronic ID tag.

"We can simply scan it and see who the registered owner is and what their contact information is and of course we also want to see collars with their ID tags because anyone who finds your pet will be able to read that ID tag as long as it is up to date, they'll be able to call you and reunite your pet with you," Bryant explains.

If you have a collar, a tag and a microchip you'll be able to reunite with your pet easier.

The Nevada Humane Society says the 4th of July is the biggest time pets go missing, which can be traumatic for both the pet and the owner.

"These little universal microchip scanners, which means regardless of the manufacturer of the microchip this scanner will read it," Bryant said.

If your pet goes missing on the 4th of July the first thing you should do is call Washoe County Regional Animal Services, the animal control agency in Washoe County, and report your pet as lost.

"That way if someone calls Washoe County Regional Animal Services they have your pet on file and your information and they can reunite them," Explains Bryant.

Dave Cochran, the Reno Fire Chief says more stations will have these microchips by next year, but now stations 1 and 3 have them.

"We currently don't get a lot of people knocking on the door with lost pets," he said. "They knock on the door for other reasons, like I said. We're there for the community, this is an expansion of that. We're hoping to get the word out to let the people know if I find a lost pet here's an easy way in my neighborhood you can go down and get the et reunited with their owners."