A few weeks ago, my friends' dog, Maggie, dug out from under their backyard fence and disappeared into their Wilmington Island neighborhood. Those of us who know Maggie felt our collective hearts sink; surrounded by woods, marshy ponds and next to U.S. 80, it was not a good place for a shy, scared dog to run loose.

The upside was that many caring neighbors and kids in the area kept their eyes open for Maggie. She was spotted several times as she raced around. Several of us walked the area looking for her. We knew her shyness would keep her from coming to anyone but her mom, but we wanted to keep her in sight.

In the wee hours of the morning, Maggie came to the front door and barked. Hungry, thirsty, muddy with mats and burrs in her coat, she found her way back. We were all happy and relieved, knowing that it could have been our dog and not all such stories have happy endings.

Steps to safety

HomeAgain, a pet microchip registration service, says that without proper identification, 90 percent of lost pets never get home. The American Humane Society says that one in 1 in 3 pets will become lost in their lifetime and that only 15 percent of lost dogs and 2 percent of lost cats find their way home. Almost 4 million pets are euthanized every year, according to American Humane Society; many of them lost family pets.

All of this went through my mind when the notice came to renew my dog Tipper's microchip registration. Unlike Maggie, Tipper will go up to anybody. I don't think she would ever run away; more likely she would embark on a good will tour of the region. No Walmart greeter has anything on Tipper.

Even though times are tough, I'm going to pay the $15 annual fee again.

You can get a microchip implanted at your vet's office or at clinic events run by local rescue groups like Save-a-Life. The theory is that if your missing pet is found, a vet, animal shelter or rescue group can run a scanner over the animal and find the chip. Even if their brand of scanner cannot read your pet's brand of chip, it should be detectable. That detection turns the animal into a lost pet instead of a stray.

Of course, this all depends on somebody getting their hands on your pet, running the scan and doing it correctly. And, most importantly, it depends on you sending in the registration.

Does that mean microchips aren't worth the money? Hardly. They are a great way - but not the only way - to keep your pet safe.

A well-fitted, no-slip or martingale-style collar with a prominent ID tag on it is the first line of defense. Again, reading the phone number engraved on the tag (or embroidered on the collar, or engraved on a small plate attached to the collar) depends on someone getting their hands on your pet. But they are more likely to try, as the collar lets them know this is a pet, not a stray.