Protecting Your Pet With Identification

The staff of the Atlantic County Animal Shelter urges all pet owners to get an identification tag for their pet. It is the single most important item to help reunite owner and pet. The tag should have the owner's name, address and telephone number clearly engraved in the metal. In addition to the owner's ID tag, a dog should also have a municipal license attached to its collar. This tag will include the year, the town and a number registered at the municipal office that corresponds to the owner.

ID tags let people know where a pet belongs should it wander from its property. If a pet is found running at large, the local shelters, police and animal control will make every effort to locate the owner of a pet with proper identification.

Another alternative for pet identification is a microchip that is implanted between your pet's shoulder blades, under the skin, just like a vaccination. The microchip contains an identification number that distinguishes your pet as your own. The chip is read with a special scanner and is registered with a worldwide data base. Most pet hospitals and shelters have these universal scanners. Pets with microchips should still wear collars and tags.

As another method of identification, many animal shelters will tattoo animals that are released to new owners. Tattoos are a permanent and visible form of identification that can be used as part of the outstanding marks on the pet and distinguish it from similar looking pets at the shelter. The tattoo can be helpful in matching a stray animal to a lost report filed at the shelter. But even if your pet is tattooed, it should also wear an ID tag.

Lost pets are much more likely to be reunited with their owners if they have proper identification. The Atlantic County Animal Shelter offers free identification tags for pets. Please contact the shelter for further information at (609) 485-2345.