Wilson County Animal Control announced plans to deploy four self-service microchip-scanning stations at community locations to help residents identify and return lost or found dogs without waiting for an animal-control response. The director said the stations will be placed at Lakeview, Watertown, Gladeville and a site on 231 North at the edge of Lebanon and will include a QR code that guides users to enter chip information and identify an owner.

The effort grew out of social-media contacts and volunteer work, the director said, and is intended to “cut us out of it” when an animal with a chip is found late at night. “If this dog has a chip and it’s 02:00 in the morning, we’re not coming out,” the director said, noting the county lacks overtime funds for round-the-clock field responses. The director described the stations as simple to use: power on, scan the animal, and follow the on-screen directions tied to the QR code.

Volunteers and partner agencies helped build and site the devices, the director said. Susan Morris, a volunteer with Friends of Wilson County Animal Control, created a sign and worked with a sign company to cut costs; the director credited Morris in the meeting. The county’s WEMA agreed to host units at its stations, and IT helped create the QR-code workflow, the director said. “We tried to make them movable,” the director said, describing concrete-block posts that were assembled at home; the director estimated similar posts cost about $500 when purchased.

Animal-control staff said the stations are intended to reduce shelter intakes and avoid unnecessary after-hours responses. The director said the units will be installed after a Channel 2 segment and a short assembly period; staff planned to begin posting information on Facebook as stations go live. A commissioner who spoke in the meeting thanked staff and volunteers for the project and called it “a great asset for our community.”

The meeting record shows no formal vote required to proceed and indicates staff will publicize locations and usage instructions on the department’s social media channels.