ID Tattooing


Posted: Tue Nov 26 00:00:00 PST 2002

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Cat hiding in a boxAction 81 Inc., a nonprofit foundation in Virginia that operates a national network to prevent, monitor and publicize theft of dogs and cats owned as pets, recommends that owners have their pets tattooed with a social security number, a state identification number or the tattoo agency's special form of identification.

A cat with a tattoo has a better chance of being reunited with its family than one without, said Carolyn Bishop, founder and president of Panhandle Action for Animals in West Virginia. A tattooed cat also is less appealing to pet thieves. In Virginia, being in possession of a tattooed cat that is not yours can bring a fine of $1000 or a year in jail.

Tattoos can run from $10 to $20 depending on who does them-a pet tattoo service or professional or a veterinarian. To facilitate the return of a lost pet to its owner, each tattoo should be registered with a national tattoo service, such as the National Pet Registry, ID Pet, National Dog Registry or Tattoo-a-Pet. You may find numerous local registries, but if you move or if your cat is found far from home, registration with a local service may not help.

Over the past 21 years, Nancy Mantlo of Virginia has tattooed more than 800,000 pets in Virginia, North and South Carolina and Washington, D.C. About 25 percent of those have been cats. She says it takes about two minutes to do the procedure, which results in a tattoo measuring less than 1 inch by ¼ inch.

The drawback to tattooing cats is that shelter workers and people who find pets don't often look for tattoos, and thick fur or the cat's skin coloration often makes reading tattoos difficult. For this reason, experts often recommend the owner keep the fur trimmed in that area. A third disadvantage is that even if someone finds a tattoo on a cat, he or she might not know where to call to locate the owner.

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Reader Comments

CatChannel Editor    Irvine, CA

2/19/2013 1:40:40 PM

Lori -- Thank you for looking after this lost cat. Check with these organizations to see if this cat has been registered with them: National Pet Registry, ID Pet, National Dog Registry or Tattoo-a-Pet.

Lori    Hendersonville, NC

2/18/2013 9:20:29 AM

I have in my possession a beautiful cat with a blue tattoo of four numbers and a fish skeleton underneath. Can anyone help me??

Galadriel    Lothlorien, ME

2/5/2013 11:57:46 PM

Could be good.

Dawn    Berkeley Springs, WV

8/11/2009 5:35:08 PM

I would love to have my dogs tattooed, but haven't been able to get in touch with Nancy Mantlo. She used to have a bi-annual tattoo clinic in Martinsburg, and I wish she would hold another one.

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