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Losing a pet is a horrible experience. If your dog is lost or
stolen, it will be nearly impossible for others to identify your
dog and help him find his way home without the proper identification.
Recent studies have shown that only about 3 of every hundred dogs
that are lost or stolen ever find their way back home. Even the
most responsible dog owners occasionally experience the loss of
a pet due to circumstances beyond their control.
Identifying
your pet is crucial if it gets lost or stolen. Here are the
most common types of dog identification methods:
All dogs should have a collar with an ID tag that includes your
name, your dog's name, your address and phone number, and if
you are willing to pay a reward for the return of your dog,
put the word "reward" on the tag as well. If you are
traveling with your dog, include an additional tag that lists
contact information of someone that will know how to reach you.
Tattoos
are permanent ID tags that involve marking a code on the dog's
skin. If your pet is lost, the person finding your dog can call
a database and use the code marked on the dog's skin to obtain
the contact information of the owners. This can also be an invaluable
procedure should your pet be stolen and sold to a testing laboratory.
The laboratory will know immediately that this is not a stray,
but a beloved pet.
Microchips
are tiny electronic devices that can be imbedded under a dog's
skin. When a lost dog is found, any organization having a scanner,
which includes many veterinarians, animal control centers, and
research labs, can scan the chip and identify the owner of the
dog quickly. |
