Pet Care Corner: Putting an ID disc on your pet’s collar
The Boksburg SPCA regularly receives stray cats and dogs that come into the society wearing collars, but with no identification disc attached.
“This is incredibly frustrating for the staff as we are not able to trace the owner of the animal and we really fail to see the point of placing a collar on an animal if it does not have some form of identification attached to it,” said the Boksburg SPCA manager, Maggie Mudd.
The SPCA sells discs for R25 each at the society and these are fitted to the collar of the animal and have the society’s contact number on one side of the disc and an identification number which belongs solely to the person purchasing the disc on the other.
Owners are requested to fill in a small white card where they register all their contact details and home address with the SPCA under that unique number and, if the animal does ever get out of their property and comes into the SPCA, the SPCA staff can immediately contact the owner and inform them that they have their lost pet.
If owners are not able to afford an ID disc then simply writing their contact number/s on the inside of the collar can also make it possible for the society to trace the owners – all collars are checked for this when animals enter the Boksburg SPCA.
Boksburg SPCA also sells microchips and this is another form of identifying an animal. This method can also prove ownership if an animal is stolen.
The SPCA advises all pet owners to put some form of identification on to their pet/s.
“We hear all the excuses when owners complete Lost Forms and have to say that their animal/s does not have any form of identification on them and this is usually ‘but they never get out’.
“Well, guess what – they are out now and have no form of identification to help them get back to you,” said Maggie Mudd.
Rather play it safe as owners can never know for certain that their pet will never get out – gates get left open for a moment and the animal is gone; pets travel with owners in the car and there is an accident and the animal gets out of the vehicle and runs away – there are a whole lot of scenarios that can and do happen.
Please be a responsible pet owner and help the SPCA to reunite your lost pet with you if they ever enter the Boksburg SPCA.
