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There are various ways in which you can ensure that you will be reunited with your pet.
- Collars with name tags
- Microchips
- Tattoos
Collars and name tags are the most obvious way of identifying your pet. Dogs should have a collar on especially when they are out on their daily exercise. This collar should have an identity disc on it stating the owners surname and phone number. Some owners even put their veterinary surgeons phone number on the reverse. The drawback with collars is that many owners take them off their dogs when they are in the home, some owners don't put collars on their cat whether they are indoor or outdoor, and collars can come off or be removed making identification a bit harder to prove.
Microchipping involves a small microchip, about the size of a grain of rice, being inserted into your pets skin. They are routinely inserted into the scruff of the neck. The microchip itself has little barbs on it which allow it to fix itself under the skin, this is to make sure it doesn't move about. This microchip has a code on it which is unique to that microchip. Therefore once it has been injected into your pet it is unique to that pet, no other pet will have the same number. Once your pet has been chipped a form has to be completed. This form asks for the owners name, address, work and home phone numbers, the pets details, such as name, age, breed, vaccinated, neutered, the veterinary surgeons code number which is specific to that vet and of course the microchip number. This form is then sent to the microchip company which has a central computer database, open 24 hours per day.
The computer will have all your details put onto it, so when your missing pet is found and scanned, using a special scanner, and the microchip has been read, you can be reunited with your pet. These scanners are routinely used by charity, welfare and animal organisations. (You will find these in our 'Your Territory' section.) They read the code number that is specific to your pet. It is important to remember to notify the microchip company if you change any of your details that they already have, such as phone number or address.
Tattoos are used in animals as a permanent identification of that animal. A code is tattooed on the inside of the ear. Each animal having its own specific code. In some situations the dog is tattooed on the inside of the thigh.
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