MARY JO NAGY | Pets An ID tag can save life of a cat or dog

If I've said it once, I'll say it 10 times again. Please put an ID tag on your cat and dog.
Saturday was tag day, a major effort by the American Humane Association to educate people about the benefits of identifying their companion animals with ID tags, license tags, tattooing or microchipping. Prevention is easy.
According to a 1997 study of 1,000 animal shelters, conducted by the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy, about1 million dogs and 584,000 cats were taken in as strays. Only 16 percent of these dogs and an alarming 2 percent of cats were returned to their owners. Identification is your pet's ticket home.
In an effort to point out the seriousness of this, one Atlanta area animal shelter published a photo of a pile of one week's worth of collars taken from cats and dogs. Under the photo the caption read, "Their owners cared enough to put collars on them. If they had cared enough to put ID tags on them, they might still be alive today."
Why it happens
The animals were all killed because their owners couldn't find them and there were no adoptive homes available. The shelter found that 90 percent of the animals with ID tags on their collars were reunited with their families.
Even pets that spend all of their time indoors should have collars with ID tags on. Special collars with elastic sewn into the band are recommended for cats. Tag your cat even if you never let it outside. Even the most responsible of pet owners can have their pet slip through the door, jump or dig under a fence. And don't forget to put that ID tag and collar back on after you've given your pet a bath.
There are many types of ID tags, but the most important is a license and a rabies vaccination tag. Personal ID tags are essential backups. The tag should include the owner's name, address and telephone number (day and evening) and the pet's name too.
If you are willing to pay a reward put that on the tag also. If you are traveling put a temporary tag on your pet with contact information of someone who knows how to reach you.
Unlike the credit card commercial that is seen on TV about the dog lost on vacation that is picked up by kind people and then makes its way back home, most animals do not get returned to their families.
Another form of ID is a microchip. A microchip is a tiny electronic capsule that is placed under the pet's skin by a veterinarian. When a pet is scanned with a universal scanner, the animal control facility can quickly identify a code that links that animal to its owner through a data base.
Tracking your animals
Most animal care and control agencies and veterinary clinics should have scanners. Many companies issue scanners for free or at a very low cost.
There are universal scanners to read the microchips of various companies. Contact your local pound or shelter to find out if they scan for microchips.
Tattoos are a permanent ID system that involves marking a code on the skin of a pet. The finder calls the database and uses the code to get a name and phone number. This is an invaluable tool should your pet be stolen for research purposes, since a laboratory will know that the pet was not abandoned.
Everyone can help by identifying their pet and encourage other pet owners to do so.
An ID tag is your pet's one-way ticket home. Please help lost pets find their way home.
XMary Jo Nagy is a volunteer with Angels for Animals.