Get your tags on (and chips in, too)
By Gina Spadafori
October 24, 2007
Did you know that most pets will survive a disaster, but will never be reunited with their families because no one can tell who the owners are?
Everyone, quick: Do all your pets have collars and ID tags? Microchips? (Yes, even with all the problems with incompatibility in the microchip industry, a chip can prove a pet is yours if doubt exists.)
I also like to recommend 1-800-HELP4Pets, a 24/7 service to help get pets back home. I’ve known the owner, Liz Blackman, for many years, and have always been impressed with her commitment to animals. She donates a weekly prize for our drawings, too: A one year-membership to the service. You can sign up here for that drawing, and for the twice-monthly e-mail newsletter we’re starting soon.)
My own personal thing is to recommend putting “Reward!” on the ID tag. A person finding your pet doesn’t need to know his name, but knowing there’s a reward might get your pet back more quickly — or maybe at all. I also don’t put an address, instead choosing to put as many phone numbers as I can fit on the tag: Home, cell, neighbor, brother. After all, if you’re forced out of your home by a disaster, having only your home number on your pet’s ID tag won’t help much.
So check those tags! If they’re not current or legible, get new ones, now. You can even order online, from any number of companies. Just. Do. It.
Home-check update: I passed my home check from NorCal German Shepherd Rescue tonight (honestly … I wasn’t all that worried) . Young Pip (a shepherd who’s maybe mixed with border collie) will join the G-Pack next week.
Yes, I’m crazy. What of it?
Completely unrelated to pets (but further proof that I am crazy): Starting November 1, I have taken a one-year commitment to see just how difficult it is to incorporate more environmentally friendly choices into my life. You can follow my “Year of Living Greenly” blog with daily postings on the new Web site, OurGreenCommunity.org. This means, of course, that my pets will be living more greenly, too. So far, Velocity The Rabbit (a/k/a VTR) is the only one who’s totally into it.
Hi there,
The link to the contest and email newsletter is not working.
Comment by Laura — October 24, 2007 @ 8:26 pm
Re: microchips
My personal recommendation is to also ensure that as many registries/data bases have the microchip information as possible.
Dogs have been reunited in our area because the local animal control agency had their microchip info.
Comment by glock — October 24, 2007 @ 8:29 pm
Sorry … linking before thinking. Fixed. :)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — October 24, 2007 @ 8:31 pm
ah, green living! not that hard at all. i bought the book “better basics for the home” when i fired all the big brands in March. it has many options for greener/healthier living beyond just cleaningsolutions. many books like it out there.
since i bought a side of beef and other meats from a upstate ranch and have spent the summer freezing and putting away veggies and produce, i haven’t been grocery shopping in, well, forever it seems! :)
new major appliances really help also. along with the CF lighting (dropped about 50 bucks off my bill when i did it, friends reported same results) your pets are prob greener than you think, but for Clara’s kitty litter, there’s Good Mews. Just like Yesterday’s News only not made by Purina ;) and seems to work better (denser maybe?). I had my local indy pet store get it for me.
i don’t drive (never have) so that aspect doesn’t really enter my life, but if you get into using your local resources and buying bulk, you’ll find you have much less errands. i bought another freezer (pets already had one) and i find i only need to buy dairy/eggs and a few other things on occasion. i bought bulk on green paper towels, TP, dish soap and many other home items and make the rest.
now granted, i was fairly green to start with around the home and food wise, but firing all the big brands 7 mos ago seems to have made my life easier and more enjoyable. i’m having a blast in the kitchen, a room i always enjoyed anyway! I also have this insane sense of security and feel even more self sufficient than before. who knew?! lol!~
Congrats on Pip!!looking forward to his arrival post and pics!! :)
Comment by straybaby — October 24, 2007 @ 9:07 pm
Honestly, the pet-food recall was what got me started heading in this direction. Got me thinking about a lot of my choices, what they supported and how I could change.
I bet I’ll have egg-laying pet hens within months.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — October 24, 2007 @ 9:10 pm
i guess i should mention i also fired all ‘processed’ foods that i used like canned tomatoes, pasta except for organic angel hair (not going to attempt that one yet), beans and such. i didn’t use many, but it’s very simple to do your own and just freeze up a bunch to have on hand etc. i think one of the best tools for a greener life is a big ol’ new freezer, lol!~ ;)
i also saved seeds from my CSA veggies to use in my kitchen garden. and i’ll be sending some to my mom for her yard garden. i may grab some lettuce seeds and see if i can grow it in my sunny kitchen over the winter . . .
Comment by straybaby — October 24, 2007 @ 9:14 pm
oh! if you get egg laying ladies, you must post often about your experience! i’m thinking about that when i move back to CA. my LL is very casual about my animals, but i think he might draw the line at chickens on the fourth floor! ;)
Comment by straybaby — October 24, 2007 @ 9:16 pm
Gina you are very brave to think of hens with all the dogs & Clara. Please let us know if this works out for you. Personally my chi thinks it is his job to chase every feathered animal out of the yard !
Comment by Leslie k — October 24, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
A friend was concerned that by putting “reward” on the dog’s collar that he was possibly encouraging theft. Something to think about.
Comment by Deanna — October 25, 2007 @ 5:53 am
They wouldn’t see that “reward” on the collar unless the dog was already out, no?
I’ve had only one real-life test of this. When I was between houses (one closed, the other in escrow) I stayed with my brother. He had a gap in the fence we didn’t see, that was just big enough for my little dog to get through. (He has a big dog, and all my others are large.)
Chase slipped through the gap and went visiting. A couple hours of frantic looking later, my brother got a call. Two little girls had found my dog. (No surprise there — that little guy loves children.) The one girl said, “It says there’s a reward?”
My brother (I was out of town when all this went down) gave the little girls $20 and took the dog home with relief.
I see what you’re saying, though. Hard to say what would happen with any given pet at any given time. I’d tend to think a promise of money might motivate the less-kindly among us to help hustle a pet home.
For what it’s worth, when I’ve found dogs and returned them (on those FEW occasions when the animal actually HAD a tag!) I’ve donated the reward to the SPCA — and told them I was doing so!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — October 25, 2007 @ 6:18 am
I’ve often wondered if having my pet’s name on his tag would make it easier for an unscrupulous person to keep him if he got lost. I think I might have to get a replacement “reward” tag made…
Comment by Debra — October 25, 2007 @ 7:50 am
I have my husband’s cell phone number and my e-mail address on Pepper’s tag. She’s also microchipped. So far, we haven’t had to use it yet, but I figured that if both the cell phones and the Internet don’t work at the same time, we’re in big trouble, anyway! ;-)
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Gina, going green shouldn’t be that difficult since you live in CA.(;-)) As someone who’s part of the sustainable ag scene here in PA, you wouldn’t BELIEVE how often we here “Well, in CA, they are already doing X, Y and Z” while here in PA, we just plod along, growing our veggies and trying to drag the legislature along with us. Want to hear the equalivant fuss over Ellen/Iggy in PA? Just go to Harrisburg, stand in the Capitol Rotundra and yell “Raw Milk Products!” So much fun — NOT!
Anyway, I bookmarked the website for later — having a group to trade ideas/sources should help a lot. Have fun - it shouldn’t be as bad as some folks would have you think!
Comment by Dorene — October 25, 2007 @ 1:11 pm
The best service for connecting lost pets with their owners is one that provides a direct link between the person that finds the pet and the pet owner. Pet*iD Short Cut Home is that service. Learn more and order Pet*iD for your pet at http://www.petid.com
Comment by Dan — November 3, 2007 @ 9:04 pm
Hooray for those of you who are going ‘natural’ as I prefer to say it. I have found that these little steps enhance better health for me, so that’s a great reason to give dit a try.
While I like the idea of the pet id, there are a couple of problems. The frst of these is if a dishonest person comes into contact with your dog, tags are easily enough removed, whereas the chip is pretty much there to stay if I understand correctly. A tag can also get lost in the bush, if you happen to be way out in the country as some of us are. Chips would be better out where the terrain is rough definitely.
I realize that cost and many other things are great where ppl are honest and care about pets and owners, but there are lots of dishonest ppl who want pets for reasons that we don’t want to think about.
I guess that this is just like so many other things in life—you just have to decide what you prefer to deal wth, and get on with it, but it’s better for pup and kitty to get on with something immediately rather than consider till it’s too late.
Comment by myraraj — May 4, 2008 @ 9:30 pm