Current use of and attitudes towards identification in cats and dogs in veterinary clinics in Oklahoma City, USA

Personalised identification (ID) tags that contain the contact information of pet owners can help ensure a pet gets home quickly. Recent research found that even though ID tags can help get pets home, the majority of pet owners do not consistently provide ID tags. The objectives of this study were to identify the number of animals at our study site wearing an ID tag as well as the owners’ reasons for not having them do so and to evaluate the attitudes and perceptions of owners towards pet identification. Pet owners were surveyed when visiting one of five veterinary hospitals and a low cost spay/neuter clinic in Oklahoma City, USA. Out of the 291 pets in the survey, only 59 (20.3%) were currently wearing an ID tag with correct information. When asked how important it was for pets to wear identification, 79.6% of the surveyed pet owners reported it was very or extremely important with only 0.7% reporting that ID tags were not at all important. The most common reason for not placing a tag on their pet was that their pet was ‘indoor only’ (35.3%), with another 10% reporting their pet did not wear ID because the pet was uncomfortable wearing a collar. The results of this research suggest that a high percentage of pets do not have ID tags and that a programme to place ID tags directly onto the pets has a good potential for success, as there is a positive attitude toward tagging among pet owners.