Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 9, 1993 TAG: 9305070372
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Instead, he was getting his "Mama's" Social Security number permanently inked on his right rear thigh for identification purposes.
Louise Warren of Roanoke, Leroy's "Mama," said she was concerned about a recent rash of pet thefts in the Roanoke Valley. If Leroy is ever lost or stolen, she hopes the tattoo will aid in his recovery by helping to identify and locate his owner.
Pam Jackson, owner of Canine Complex at 3946 Electric Road, where Leroy got tattooed, said pets sometimes are stolen for sale to research laboratories. More often, a pet becomes lost when it simply wanders too far from home and can't find its way back.
While tattooing won't prevent your pet from being lost or stolen, a permanent ID may enhance the chances of recovery.
"Laboratories will not buy a tattooed animal," Jackson said, and "most shelters look for tattoos."
Collars and tags can be lost or removed, so a recovery system based solely on tag information is virtually useless when an animal is stolen.
Fran Sizemore is the certified tattooer for Canine Complex tattoo clinics. A breeder of shelties and wolf hybrids, Sizemore tattoos all of her own animals.
She said the procedure is painless to pets because the needles do not penetrate the skin as deeply as on humans. Sizemore said the animal feels the vibration of the tattoo pen, but no pain. No anesthesia is used at the tattoo clinics.
Most dogs and cats are easy to tattoo, she said, except for the occasional ones that "don't like to be held down, or they don't like the noise of the machines."
She said some veterinarians are equipped to tattoo animals, and they generally will sedate the pet for the procedure.
Depending on how cooperative the pet is, the entire procedure generally lasts no longer than 15 minutes. The animal is held down on its side and the area to be tattooed is shaved with electric clippers and disinfected with alcohol, Sizemore said.
The preferred tattoo site is on an inside rear thigh, up near the fleshy part of the belly. Sizemore does not recommend tattooing ears because "ears can be cut off."
Once the tattoo number is applied, "the owner should keep the area shaved so the tattoo can be seen," Sizemore said.
For light-skinned pets, Sizemore uses black ink. On black dogs with dark-pigmented skin, she uses a neon green that shows up readily.
It's normal for the newly tattooed area to show some redness or scabs the first day or two afterward, Sizemore said. To soften and soothe the area, she applies Vaseline over the finished tattoo.
For the tattoo ID, many owners use their Social Security numberbecause the easily recognized nine-digit sequence is uniquely assigned to a person for a lifetime.
For purebred dogs, the American Kennel Club registration number also makes a good tattoo ID. A tattoo does not disqualify a show dog from the ring, Jackson said.
Whatever the choice, Sizemore encourages registering pet tattoos with the National Dog Registry and/or with Tatoo-A-Pet. Both nationwide pet protection services have been operating for at least 20 years. Each has a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week hotline for computer matching pet tattoo numbers with the owner's name, address and telephone number. While each service prefers to assign its own tattoo code, either will accept any number and/or letter sequence tattooed on a pet.
"If you don't register a tattoo, it doesn't do a lot of good," Sizemore said.
Say, for example, a stray dog with no collar or tags is picked up and taken to an animal shelter. Shelter officials find a Social Security number tattooed on the dog. To reunite the dog with its owner, they must trace the tattoo number. How do they do that?
Well, first of all, they'd know better than to call the Social Security Administration. That institution will not release any information on its numbers because privacy laws prohibit it.
Instead, they would call the major pet registries' 24-hour toll-free numbers. If the tattoo is registered with a national pet protection service, the hotline can quickly trace the tattoo number and reunite pet and owner, regardless of where the animal was picked up.
If the tattoo was never registered, authorities may, as a last resort, attempt to match a Social Security number with a driver's license in states where it is possible to do so. However, failing one or two attempts, "they're not going to call all 50 states," Jackson said.
Jackson said the next tattoo clinic at Canine Complex will take place May 29 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Lifetime registration with the National Dog Registry costs $38, plus the tattooing fee of $15. For Tatoo-A-Pet, the cost is $20 for everything. Tatoo-A-Pet also offers a $25 kennel rate for registering three or more animals, in addition to the tattooing fee.
For more information about pet tattoos, or to make an appointment for the clinic, call Canine Complex at 989-2046.
Send general-interest questions to The Pet Podium, in care of the Features Department, Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491.
Karen L. Davis is a Roanoke free-lance writer and pet owner. Her column runs twice a month.
by CNB