Peircing/tattooing your pet cruel?

[Emeraldgreen]

Microchipping is from all outward appearances not a painful experience. Dogs and cats receive them in the scruff of their necks usually or a bit lower down and it is much like a vaccine but as someone mentioned in an earlier post, a larger gauge needle is used but not that much larger. I've seen cats and dogs receive these and they don't even flinch. If it were for any other reason other than i.d. I wouldn't be for it but it helps get lost animals home so I think it's great.
I think the tattooes in the ear are a good idea as well. In this location they usually don't get covered by fur providing they are placed high enough up on the ear flap and that they are done well (i.e. legible). All vet clinics and shelters have a list of the codes used for tattooes so if a person finds a cat or a dog and calls any clinic or shelter, the code can be looked up to find out which vet clinic or shelter did the tattoo and then from there the owner can be found.
I run a website for lost and found pets and one of the things I usually tell people is to make sure they keep their contact information current with the hospital or shelter that actually did the tattoo. If the family moves and forgets to update this information the tattoo becomes entirely useless.

I am 100% against piercing and tattooing for cosmetic reasons (designs or words that are not used for i.d.). The piercing could lead to infection as others have mentioned and if a ring was used instead of a stud it could get caught on any number of things, including the animals own claws and could rip the ear or whatever part of the body is pierced. It would be so selfish to turn a pet into an accessory like that.
p.s. this is not directed at you Buttercup132 but just at the idea itself.

[ScottieMommy]

I would not mind getting my dog a tatoo on her belly with her indentification, but again how about if i change phone number? Thats permanent is it? I rather go with the microchip which she has. I myself would NEVER get my pet a peircing thats just crazy, i know pain comes with that.

I myself been thinking about getting a tatoo myself and i know i can take the pain so i dont mind, but my pet? Nah i will leave it as it is.

[Emeraldgreen]

The tattoos here in B.C. are a combination of letters and numbers. Each year the BCVMA chooses a letter that will be used and the other letter is one that is specific for each clinic. The numbers are chosen numerically so on January first, the first tattoo at a clinic might be JF001 (the letter J would be a clinic if that was their letter and the letter F would be the 2008 letter provided by the BCVMA, not sure what letter they are going with, just using that as an example and the number 001 would reflect the first patient being tattooed at that clinic in 2008. The books the BCVMA distributes to all the clinics each new year has all the clinics letter combinations so tattoo letters can be easily looked up to locate the hospital. There is also a section with the letters of clinics in nearby provinces, or at least there used to be.
If a person moves and changes their phone number, they just need to provide the new phone number to the hospital or shelter that did the tattoo so they can update the records.
I agree, tattooing a phone number on a pet would be a big commitment and because phone numbers so often change, probably not a good idea.

[Giselle]

Okay, I stand corrected: GREYHOUND ear tattoos are the ones I was talking about - special tool puncturing holes and rubbing dye into the holes. I watched a little video on how people do contemporary identification tattoos on a dog, and it's actually very similar to human tattoos. *shrugs* I think the greyhound ear tats are quicker and less painful in that sense.

And, the microchip needle is HUGE. I don't know what company you (in Canada) use, but both HomeAgain and ResQ have huge needles. After the microchip is inserted, you have to hold the flap of skin shut to avoid letting the microchip slip back out. My dogs didn't have a problem with it, but I've seen other dogs/cats who have. I do think a lot of it has to do with the individual animal's pain tolerance.

[molucass]

I don't agree with piercing or tattooing for cosmetic purposes. And only agree with tattoos for identification..

However, at one point while I was in highschool, the newest fad going around was to pierce your dogs ears.. I would never have done it, but I do remember when I would go to Petsmart and Petco there would be people walking their dogs around with their ears pierced... The majority of them were people with pit bulls and etc.. I also worked at the humane society, and we had a couple dogs come in that had it done.

I think it's pretty cruel.

[binka_nugget]

However, at one point while I was in highschool, the newest fad going around was to pierce your dogs ears.. I would never have done it, but I do remember when I would go to Petsmart and Petco there would be people walking their dogs around with their ears pierced... The majority of them were people with pit bulls and etc.. I also worked at the humane society, and we had a couple dogs come in that had it done.

Ugh. That reminds me of a dog I saw at the dog beach. It was a pittie with a genital piercing. I really don't get some people..

[Twisterdog]

There probably is some pain involved with microchipping. However, momentary pain and size of needle aside, there is a valid, important purpose for microchipping. It very well could be the difference between life and death, between happiness and torture for your pet. I would gladly, a thousand times over, inflict the few moments of pain on my pet to get them microchipped, if it meant they would be returned to me if lost.

Cosmetic piercing or tattooing, however, is simply pointless to the animal. It is pain, risk of injury and infection, etc. for no reason whatsoever.