Photographing Your Pet for ID Purposes 2
I am sure that everyone here is a conscientious pet owner and that you all care deeply for your pets. I mean, you wouldn't be spending your time in a pet chat room chatting about and showing off your pets, let alone creating web pages about them.
Taking photos for ID purposes is a little different than just having lots of photos of our pets. ID Photos record every detail of your pet, special markings and color patterns that are unique to your pet. These should be kept with your pet records, of which photos, while important, are only one part. We have an entire chapter on keeping accurate up-to-date pet records. They are more than just a record of vet visits and vaccinations. We are talking about photos taken specifically for ID purposes. Photos that record every detail of our pets. Unique markings, color patterns, that little black triangle patch on your dogs left hind leg or those tan spots on her belly.
Did you know that many thousands of pets escape each year and are taken in and kept by the people that find them. Even if you locate the person that has found and kept your pet it doesn't mean you automatically get your pet back. You need to be able to prove that your pet is indeed your pet. For example, say you own a Dalmation, to the average person they all look alike. Those that love and keep Dalmations however, know that each dog has its own unique series of spots. This is true for many breeds, to the novice they all look the same.
Now say that your dog escapes one day, I know, I know, "my dog never escapes". People that believe this are the most vulnerable of all. Believe me, Nancy Peterson, the woman that wrote the Foreword to our book, is the PET PERSON, for the Humane Society of the United States, the most conscientious pet owner you could ever meet and the least likely person to ever lose a pet, and one day, out of the blue, her cat went right through a screen window. Which just go to show the most responsible loving pet owner in the world can lose their pet. So just suppose your pet was to escape, could you prove in court that your dog or cat belongs to you. Having photos that record every detail of your "UNIQUE" pet goes a long way toward proving your dog or cat belongs to you. As I said photos are very important but only one way of proving ownership. There are many other ways to prove ownership, microchips, tattoos, and even DNA profiling all of which we discuss at length in our book. In fact, you can read our entire ID section of our book which includes, ID Registries, ID Tags, Tattoos, Microchips, and DNA in our free ebook:Proper Pet ID: Your Lost Pet's Ticket Home.
I hope I don't sound Preachey, it is definately not my intention. It's just that I have heard more stories of people who never thought it could happen to them. It is just best to take precautions.
Andrew
