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Reflecting on having to deal with animals in distress during the December holiday season, welfare organisations urge pet owners to use tags or microchips.
Dog owners are urged to use identity tags for their pets
WELFARE organisations have urged pet owners to use microchips or tags on collars to make it easier to return stray animals.
This follows the usual increase in the number of stray or abandoned animals found by the welfare bodies during the December holidays.
The Johannesburg SPCA gave shelter to 714 stray cats and dogs this festive season, up from the 500 in December 2007, according the SPCA's public relations manager, Michelle Moll. "Most of the animals brought in were stray or unwanted."
With the annual New Year festivities accompanied by fireworks, most of the dogs treated by the SPCA were in for trauma from the fireworks. Other dogs were treated for injuries such as being hit by a car.
Many pets get lost when they are left with strangers while their owners are on holiday – they end up being petrified and run away because they do not know the people taking care of them, says Moll.
Other welfare organisations reported somewhat lower figures for animal rescues than previous years. The general manager of the Midrand SPCA, Richard Gill, suggested this might have been due to the rainy weather over the New Year, dampening the fireworks displays.
"We have seen a decrease in the number of cats and dogs found during the festive season." At the end of 2008 Midrand dealt with 153 cats and dogs, compared to 165 in 2007.
The Animal Anti-Cruelty League in Regents Park, south of the city, also said that December was better than 2007. According to the kennel support manager, Lilanie Hart, only six dogs needed to be rescued in December, compared to the 39 in 2007.
All, however, noted how important it is for pets to have some form of identification.
Identification
"Ninety percent of the animals brought in don't have any form of identification and we have no way of contacting the owner," Moll says.
She suggests that pet owners buy a collar and tag, or a microchip. That way the owners can be contacted when their pets stray.
Collars and tags cost, on average, R60 from pet shops, while a microchip costs about R100. The microchips can be supplied by any veterinarian or SPCA.
According to Moll there are two suppliers of microchips, Verbex and Identipet. These companies supply the chips and keep track of the animals on their databases.
The owner fills in a form giving their details and that of their pets to the company keeping track of the animals. The chip has a unique number coded into it and is read by means of a scanner.
"The microchip is about the size of a grain of rice and is injected between the shoulder blades of the animal by a veterinarian or a trained person," says Moll.
Animals with microchips wear blue or cream white tags.
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