PET ID suggestions

[itsapita]

We are "new" RVers, as in it's been about 18 years since we sold our MH so we're not truly new, but this is a whole new ballgame!

I work with our local Humane Society, and have had MANY animals come through our system that were lost by travelers. Of course the ones we know were traveling had proper ID/microchips and went "home". That said, when we purchased our 5th wheel and decided the pets were coming too, I was worried.

So on the topic of ID, here is what I suggest from a person who tries to return lost pets to their home.
ALL animals in your RV should travel with ID- EVEN IF THEY NEVER GO OUTSIDE. What if you are in a wreck and your pet runs off or is taken to a vet and you are unable to identify them? NO excuses.
#1 TAGS- is best chance of your getting a call about your found pet, put MORE than your number on them, perhaps a friend/parent/child/siblings phone number as well as yours. MUCH more important than your pets name. In fact I would leave the name off.
#2 MICROCHIP- Our shelter does them for $35 which includes registration, so shop around, no need to pay big bucks. IF the TAG is lost and the animal goes to a humane shelter or vet the odds are they will scan them, but remember good Samaritans often find lost pets, assume stray and keep them if no tags(refer to #1 thing to have on your pet). NOTE- be sure to keep your microchip info UP TO DATE with your current phone number and back up contact! Also a microchip identifies YOU as the OWNER, if someone finds your pet and you do not have positive proof, you may not get them back. Even pictures may not be enough. (note keep pics handy just in case)
#3 GPS I purchased the TAGG.com system for all 3 of our traveling pets, it was only $89 with the coupon code of TIFTHHS (disclaimer-that is a discount code from our humane society)and TAGG is also available from Camping World(no affiliation except a customer) which includes 3 months of tracking. I love these, and keep them on my pets even at home. Note, they are kind of large (not heavy) for a tiny/teacup pet, but I think you could thread a harness through them so that it wasn't around their neck. (picture a ladies sports watch and you can imagine the size of the unit that clips to the collar.)
Those are the 3 most important things I can think of. Yes state and local laws differ and would be almost impossible to post. But as long as your pet is leashed, up to date on shots, and not vicious I think you are in good shape...and PICK UP AFTER YOUR PET! LOL

SuZ

[BCSnob]

Finding a dog hung to death because the dangling tag (on a leather buckle collar) snagged on the fence as it was climbing over tends to make one wonder about the safety of dangling tags (like most rabies tags).

[itsapita]

WE also use the TAGG tracker especially when we travel. Read about those on www.tagg.com you can get a 10% discount with cod TIFTHHS (disclaimer- Tagg will donate to the Terre Haute Humane Shelter if you use the code)

[itsapita]

Someone mentioned cats getting hung up in collars, it's possible but we use quick release collars with ID tag. Removes that worry.

[itsapita]

Heish,

We still put rabies tags on our pets. Our humane Society often tracks down pets through the rabies tags...well not often enough. 99% of the animals come in with no collar or tag of any kind. Thankfully since the shelter microchips, those are becoming more common unfortunately it's amazing how often people change their phone #'s and don't update!

[Heish]

Late to the party...again. Does no one put their rabies tags on collars anymore? I get at least one call a month asking to locate a found pet by our rabies tag. Our tags have our name, address and telephone number along with the tag number. I'm fairly certain that this is universial. Although I can't give the owner info to the caller - we relay info and make sure everyone is reunited. The S clips are much stronger than the O rings. I have lost some tags by mistakenly attaching leash to O ring, they are not that strong.

[rockhillmanor]

Everyone is micro chipped and have a permanent tag with phone number on it.

And.....
They also have an attachable tag that has a changeable label inside that I write down my phone number, CG name and site number on it. This gets put on when we pull in and set the levelers down at each CG we stay at while traveling. :C

[WandaLust2]

All four of our cats are "chipped" but don't wear collars. Two bad experiences many years ago has caused me some anxiety about putting collars on cats. My first cat got it's jaw caught and we could not free him. In the car, my parents had no knife or anything to cut through the collar. We stopped and a kind person cut through it with some kind of snipper. A few years later, picking blueberries on L.I.N.Y. a friend and myself saw something glittering a few feet above the ground in a heavily wooded area adjoining the blueberry patch. Looking closely, we found a cat collar hung up on a branch and small white bones below it including the upper part of a cat skull. The still shiny little tag and collar looked like they had been there for a few years. No contact info was on the tag. This was at least 2 miles from the nearest homes. Only 13 or 14 years old and both animals lovers, we were left feeling sad.....

[The_Dung_Beetle]

Go Dogs wrote:
Another tip about name tags. Don't just put your home phone number on the tag. If you're traveling, what good will it do if you lose your pet, and they call an empty house?

You are sooo right! Our dogs are microchipped, and their travel collars have our cell numbers on them. Also, our vets office has both of our cell #'s as a back up.
.

[wbrown62]

gajd33 wrote:
Anyone ever use these guys called RoadID? https://www.roadid.com/c/RoadID They have tags for pets and people.

I am a road cyclist and I use Road ID. Quite a bit of info can be engraved on the tags. High quality also.

[Gunner45]

lasparrot wrote:

Gunner45 wrote:
We can't have tags on in agility or obedience so we are going to add name and number to each actual collar.

Boomarang Tags have flat ones that attach to the collar with nothing hanging down. Oh gosh that's a bad description! Look at their site. I have them for the collars the dogs wear around the house. Good quality tags.

Thank you for this info!! We already have enough different collars so it would be nice to have a flat tag instead of one more collar 🙂


~ Dori ~

[itsapita]

lasparrot wrote:

Gunner45 wrote:
We can't have tags on in agility or obedience so we are going to add name and number to each actual collar.

Boomarang Tags have flat ones that attach to the collar with nothing hanging down. Oh gosh that's a bad description! Look at their site. I have them for the collars the dogs wear around the house. Good quality tags.

LOL my daughter doesn't like the jangle of the tags, so we did a flat tag on the collar with the information. I often write phone #'s on nylon collars for my foster animals, works fine. Not fancy but effective!

[lasparrot]

Gunner45 wrote:
We can't have tags on in agility or obedience so we are going to add name and number to each actual collar.

Boomarang Tags have flat ones that attach to the collar with nothing hanging down. Oh gosh that's a bad description! Look at their site. I have them for the collars the dogs wear around the house. Good quality tags.

[discovery4us]

SSki wrote:
All good tips, in addition to his microchip and tags, my dog wears a collar with his name and our cell phone number embroidered on it.

X2. We have a set of collars that sits next to the passenger chair. First thing on the dogs and last thing off when we get home. Cell numbers with area code not home numbers.

[Gunner45]

SSki wrote:
All good tips, in addition to his microchip and tags, my dog wears a collar with his name and our cell phone number embroidered on it.

This is what we are looking into. All of our animals are microchiped, even the cat that stays home and indoors. We have tags on some of our collars but we use different collars for different reasons. We can't have tags on in agility or obedience so we are going to add name and number to each actual collar.