Online Services Get More Pets Home Safely

If you want to avoid the wrenching experiencing of not knowing where your pet is or what has happened to it, you need to take advantage of the identification tools that are available. While the three major forms of identification each have their own strengths and weaknesses, though, they're not enough to make sure that other people get the information that they need to bring your animal home. Bringing it all together using online services can make the difference between bringing a dog or cat home and never really knowing what has happened to it.

Tags

Tags are imprinted with an animal's name and home phone number. These are convenient to use, since virtually all pet dogs and cats are supposed to wear a rabies tag as proof that they've been properly vaccinated anyway. Unfortunately, these can get lost if the collar snacks on something.

Microchips

Microchips are more permanent, because they're actually implanted into an animal at the shoulder. The chip has an identification number on it, and this is kept in a database with the microchip company so that it's possible to look up the contact information for the owners. It's only possible to read these chips with the right equipment, though, and their presence isn't visible. People who find lost pets often don't realize that they should take them to a shelter or vet to have them scanned.

Tattoos

This is an identification marker that is both permanent and visible to anyone, though it can only be put on while an animal is already anesthetized, such as for a spay or neuter surgery. The number tattooed uniquely identifies a specific animal, but someone who sees it may not know what it means or who to call to get further information.

Identification is Not Enough

All of the forms of identification for pets have serious drawbacks that keep them from being the perfect solution. Because of this, it's still important to do things like advertise that an animal has been either lost or found. Online postings are particularly valuable, because the people in the relevant region can share them with their friends very easily. Where a poster can only be seen by people who actually pass by it, which could be far from where the pet has roamed, an online posting can spread to thousands in a very short period of time, and is constantly available to anyone looking for or finding a pet.

Bringing it All Together

The best lost pet service online is one that brings together many different factors to allow people to find their pets, or people who've come across pets to find the families. It includes information about where they were lost or found, what they look like and answer to, and whether they have microchips and other identifying features. Putting all of this information in one place makes it a lot easier for someone who may only have some fraction of it to match it up to a listing and identify the animal.

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