The scene doesn’t quite play out like an episode from CSI or the latest police drama. On TV, an identity mystery can be solved in under an hour. However, in a true-life reality show playing out in Lee County and thousands of shelters across the nation, most stray pets are never identified and never reunited with their owners, says Ria Brown, a spokeswoman with Lee County Domestic Animal Services.

There is a simple solution though — one that Lee County is making available to every pet owner regardless of income, she says.

The solution is Microchip Identification and the agency believes it is the key to improving the county’s dismal 12 percent owner return rate. Only 12 percent of dogs and less than one percent of cats in Lee County are reunited with their owners.

Each spring, (LCDAS) Lee County Domestic Animal Services joins the American Humane Association in celebrating Every Day Is Tag Day, an annual campaign that encourages all pet owners to tag and microchip their companion animals.

“Pet identification is the most important tool Animal Control Officers have to reunite lost pets,” said Adam Leath, LCDAS operations manager. “Identification saves lives, reduces shelter overcrowding, and saves millions of taxpayer dollars currently spent to house and care for homeless pets,” he said.

In fact, permanent identification, that can’t be lost or removed, is so important that Lee County discounts pet license fees for pets that are microchipped as well as sterilized. This is because sterilization reduces the number of pets that end up in shelters and identification reduces the amount of time, if any, pets will spend at the shelter.

LCDAS offers microchipping for Lee County dog and cat owners every Friday from 10 a.m. until noon at the shelter, 5600 Banner Drive, Fort Myers, next to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office off Six Mile Cypress Parkway.The cost is $15 or $5 with proof of public assistance.

The one-time cost of the microchip saves pet owners 77 percent off the cost of a license and ensures they can be identified should their pet become lost.

“It’s a win for pets, pet owners, the shelter, and the taxpayers,” Brown said.

For more information call (239) 533-7387 or visit www.LeeLostPets.com. Photos of lost pets are also available online.