TulsaPets Magazine January 2023

22 TulsaPets • January / February 2023 Finding the Way Home TagOK Helps Reunite People and Pets by Julie Wenger Watson T hey stare at us from social media posts and homemade flyers — the adorable faces of lost pets above the heartbreaking messages of bereft families hoping to reunite with their beloved dogs and cats. According to a nonprofit animal welfare organization, Best Friends Animal Society, Oklahoma shelters took in more than 90,000 cats and dogs in 2021. Although the majority of those were returned to their families or adopted, close to 10,000 of those animals were euthanized. Among those killed was someone’s lost pet. In Oklahoma, TagOK, a program of the nonprofit Lab Rescue OK, Inc., is working to change that by providing affordable identification tags for pets. TagOK Promotes Animal Welfare Although statistics vary, Oklahoma’s record on animal welfare reflects poorly on the state. In 2020, Oklahoma ranked among the top 10 states in the number of dogs and cats euthanized in animal shel- ters. Although those shelters work to re- turn lost pets to their owners, their task is made significantly more challenging when animals lack any form of identification. The mission of TagOK is to promote an- imal welfare through education, commu- nity outreach, and pet population control by reuniting lost pets with owners through low-cost or no-cost pet ID tags. TagOK works under the umbrella of the nonprofit Lab Rescue OK, which provides the bulk of the funding and volunteer manpower. According to Derek Young, a board member and longtime volunteer at Lab Rescue, TagOK provided 2,000 tags a year to Oklahoma pet owners before the COVID-19 pandemic. Owners can order tags online through the TagOK website or by attending one of the organization’s events. Each Oklahoma household is allowed one free tag, and additional tags are available for $3 each, about half the retail cost and less than the actual cost of making and mailing the tags. “We try to do at least a couple of events a month, depending on the time of year and our volunteers,” says Young. “We’re fully self-contained. We have a generator that will power both of our machines. We can go set up in a dog park, at a spay-and- neuter clinic, at a church, or at a school if there’s a carnival or special event.” Young notes that the organization is not trying to compete with pet shops in providing tags but focuses on populations and areas where the need is great and access is limited. Those include rural areas or underserved communities, including homeless people. Why Tag Your Pet? A visible identification tag is your lost pet’s first line of defense and the quickest way to ensure its return. Whether you have an indoor or outdoor pet, it’s important for your animal to wear an ID tag at all times. No matter how closely you supervise your pet or how well behaved the animal is, not all circumstances are under a pet owner’s control. Doors are left ajar, gates are left unlocked, attention is diverted, and pets wander off. Combine that with any indi- vidual animal’s propensity to jump fences, dig holes, or chase squirrels, and it can be a real challenge to keep pets safely in sight. An ID tag greatly increases the chance that your animal will be returned to you if the two of you are separated. ID tags are easy to read, which means the pet’s name and the owner’s contact information are readily available so anyone who finds the animal can easily telephone the owner. Although microchips are also an important and reliable form of iden- tification, an animal with a chip must be scanned at a shelter or veterinarian’s office to access the information. An ID tag also indicates that your pet isn’t a stray. Many people might be hesitant to go near or to handle a stray animal, but a collar with ID tag lets them know an an- imal is a pet and most likely a member of someone’s family. That encourages people to stop and help to return a lost animal as quickly as possible. What Information To Include At a minimum, your pet’s tag should include key information that will help your animal return home. This should include your pet’s name and a contact phone num- ber (preferably a cell number). For your family’s security and safety, it is not recom- mended to include a home address. ID tags can include additional informa- tion, including notification of health issues or disabilities. An owner can even indicate on the tag that a reward for the lost pet is offered, which might incentivize the pet’s speedy return. Consider a second tag if your animal is also microchipped. That tag could include the chip company’s name and phone number. Remember to update your contact information with the company if you and your pet should move or if you change phone numbers. An updated rabies vaccination tag can provide an additional method of identifica- tion and let people know your animal’s vac- cines are current. In a pinch, relevant contact information can even be added directly to an animal’s collar with a permanent marker. How You Can Help Once your pet is properly tagged, you might want to consider helping other people tag their pets. TagOK accepts dona- tions through the website, and volunteers are always welcome at TagOK and Lab Rescue. Corporate sponsors can pay a little extra to have their logo digitized and added to the tags. For more information on TagOK and ways to participate, visit https://tagok.org.