Cell phones are how we keep in contact with each other and it is also how we can keep in contact with our pets.
Putting your cell phone number on your pet's collar or tag so you can be reached quickly if your pet gets lost can be a lifesaver. Your pet is probably outside more in the summer; they chase other animals, and they can be traveling with you in an unfamiliar place ... and can end up lost.
Speed of the recovery is important and cell phones offer one of the best alternatives. Relative to the microchip implant (which you may want to use in addition to the collar/tag), it offers some very distinct benefits. The cell phone number allows anyone who finds your pet to call you and allow you to reclaim your pet.
Tags with cell phone numbers and microchipsA microchip has to be read by a reader -- which means your pet would have to be found in a shelter or by a veterinarian who can read the chip, and since it uses RFID technology/radio waves, the read range is between 3 to 12 inches. It does not have GPS capability or use a satellite.
While most shelters have readers, they may not always be used or the shelter may have an older reader which can only read a specific brand of microchip or a reader that can detect that there is a microchip but can not decode it. Additionally, only a small percentage of pets have microchips.
Microchips do offer a backup to a lost collar or tag. Some areas like Los Angeles County and El Paso, Texas are requiring dogs (plus cats and ferrets in El Paso) to be microchipped. In Los Angeles County, the registration and microchip implantation is free due to a donation from the Found Animal Foundation.
Most importantly, while it is generally required by law, many owners still do not have a collar or tag on their pet, which makes recovery even more difficult, if not impossible.
Take me home!It is cats who can benefit the most from a collar/tag with a cell phone number. In one study conducted by Dr. Linda Lord of Ohio State University, one-third of the dogs were found in animal shelters but only 7% of cats -- which means that your cat is less likely to end up in a shelter that can read the microchip. If your cat is lost, the first thing you should do is check with the shelters, as dog owners wait a day and cat owners wait three days to contact shelters, and that may be too late.
What you can do:Protect pets and find lost pets!
Click here and scroll down and click on the "Lost & Found Pet Resources" folder
Posted by Sheryl Rapee-Adams, Best Friends Network Volunteer
News release used with permission
Photos retrieved from sxc.hu