My 2 cents worth:
I like to think that MOST people are not that selfish and heartless. Yes, there are greedy people out there that would keep that beautiful parrot they managed to capture, but after some time, I think maybe they may be clueless and give that bird up to due the demands and needs of that bird. I like to think there are people out there like me, and our new member, who would do everything humanly possible, that would explore ALL avenues to keep that bird from loosing the only family it knows, and try to find his owners.
There are a lot of GOOD people out there that WOULD pay the $$ to have that bird scanned. It wouldn't matter to me if it was free or not. I would still make it a point to scan it no matter how much I wanted it. Too be that selfish, to find a bird or any animal, and just keep it without making any effort to find it's home is heartbreaking.....
I know that there are people out there like Dave mentioned, but I also like to believe it is the minority.
MY dog came to me micro-chipped. I have numerous pets over the years,never had them micro-chipped, and let me tell you, that to know, that if he ever got lost and was brought to an animal shelter, police station or vet, in my state, the first thing they do IS scan them. It is a comfort to me knowing there is a CHANCE he would be brought home to his loving family. Without it, he would be lost forever to us.