The Pet Identification Advocate

PERMANENT PET IDENTIFICATION METHODS

Though the public at large may be unaware of it, a couple of effective methods of permanent pet identification have been around for a while: the microchip and the tattoo. Both have their own merits and should be taken into consideration by all pet owners.

On this site, you'll find a page devoted to each, and as you'll see, there is a great deal more information available about the microchip method than the tattoo method, at least in terms of links to pages with additional information. I interpret this as being because the microchip is the newer, more emerging high-tech solution; it's perhaps considered more exciting to write about, and it must be more widely used (though I'm not actually certain of this). I encourage you to consider both methods carefully despite this appearance.

Neither of these methods should be considered a pet's ONLY identification, so the question is going to come down to whether to choose microchip v tattoo v both, but NOT whether to choose microchip and/or tattoo v an ID tag.

Because of several potential problems that permanent identification methods can resolve that non-permanent methods cannot resolve, there should be no question about whether or not to select a permanent identification method for each pet, as part of an identification program. Here are those potential problems:

NON-PERMANENT IDENTIFICATION CAN ITSELF BE LOST OR REMOVED A high percentage of pets that are separated from their owners are not wearing tags or even a collar when they turn up later. In some cases, this is because the collar and/or tags were left off intentionally, thinking the pet was secured in a house or yard, but it got out. Many pets have been frightened by fireworks or other loud noises and ducked out of their loose collars, or snapped their collars with the strength of their flight. The list of ways a companion animal comes to be without its normal identification, such as tags, is endless. Permanent identification has often served as an effective backup to the more highly visible tags. Many animals have been scanned for microchips or examined for tattoos at humane societies and animal shelters.

PROOF OF OWNERSHIP There are times when proof of ownership becomes an issue in reuniting pets with their owners. In cases of both pet theft and of finders deciding they'll keep strays they encounter because they convince themselves that the owners abandoned them or they simply want to keep them, missing pets may be located by a means other than the pets' permanent identification, but the microchip or tattoo is brought into eliminate any doubts about the true identity of the pet as belonging to the original owner.

The costs associated with microchipping and tattooing may enter into the decision as to which will be chosen. The charge for a pet tattoo application is relatively low already, and the microchip implant price will do just what most other high tech solutions do as their usage rises: it will be reduced. There are already many animal clinics and humane societies that charge about as little for the microchip implant as what pet tattooists charge.

Now, there's a second cost associated with both microchips and tattoos: the registry. Without the chip or tattoo being listed with a registry, where all of the owner's contact information is listed, it's almost useless. There are many pet registries, and you can read about them elsewhere on this website, but some of them carry a very low lifetime registration fee, as well.

ID your pets so this author won't ever have to walk away from them

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Last update: 3/11/98

	*NON-PERMANENT IDENTIFICATION CAN ITSELF BE LOST OR REMOVED* A high percentage of pets that are separated from their owners are not wearing tags or even a collar when they turn up later. In some cases, this is because the collar and/or tags were left off intentionally, thinking the pet was secured in a house or yard, but it got out. Many pets have been frightened by fireworks or other loud noises and ducked out of their loose collars, or snapped their collars with the strength of their flight. The list of ways a companion animal comes to be without its normal identification, such as tags, is endless. Permanent identification has often served as an effective backup to the more highly visible tags. Many animals have been scanned for microchips or examined for tattoos at humane societies and animal shelters.

	*PROOF OF OWNERSHIP* There are times when proof of ownership becomes an issue in reuniting pets with their owners. In cases of both pet theft and of finders deciding they'll keep strays they encounter because they convince themselves that the owners abandoned them or they simply want to keep them, missing pets may be located by a means other than the pets' permanent identification, but the microchip or tattoo is brought into eliminate any doubts about the true identity of the pet as belonging to the original owner.