When pets run out of their homes in North Andover, it may be easier to get them back.

Hopkinton Drug and the Massachusetts Animal Coalition have donated a microchip scanner to North Andover Animal Control Officer Amy McCarthy.

“I am very grateful for the generosity of Hopkinton Drug and MAC," McCarthy said in a statement. "This will definitely help me do the important work I do."

Microchips are tiny and have a registration number that can't be altered or removed. And since Oct. 31, Massachusetts animal control officers are required to scan stray animals for microchips. Once the chip is detected, the ACO can contact the microchip company and obtain the owner’s information. The donated scanners are able to read chips manufactured by other companies, in addition to its own.

“We think this is a perfect opportunity to highlight the importance of microchipping and to play a role in helping to get this technology to our ACOs. From experience, we have learned that microchipping offers a more reliable, quicker and more efficient way of helping to reunite more pets with their families,” said Anne Lindsay, founder of MAC.

The scanner donation is due in part to a grant to MAC from the Hopkinton Drug Fund for Massachusetts Animal Shelters program. For every veterinary prescription filled at Hopkinton Drug, money is set aside and disbursed to benefit local animal shelters and rescues.