What Not To Put on A Pet Tag?

Tips on what to include on your pet ID tag:

What to do and what not to do
Since we engrave so many pet ID tags every day. So, we’ve learned what not to include on a custom pet ID tag, and what should be included. When deciding what to put on your pet's ID tag, keep these key considerations in mind:

1. Your phone number is the most important information.

If there's one thing that absolutely needs to be included on your pet's ID tag, it's your phone number. Your pet's name is even secondary if your pet is lost and someone finds them.

2. Including your street address may be helpful, but is optional.

If your pet is spotted by someone a few houses down or someone familiar with the neighborhood, it would be nice to have your address written on the ID tag. This information is optional, however, as you can give them your address immediately when they call or text you.

3. City, state and zip code are usually not required on pet ID tags.

The chances of your pet ending up in another city/state are very slim. If you do include your address on the ID tag, remember that your pet is unlikely to end up in another city. Therefore, including your city, state, and zip code usually just takes up a lot of space and affects the readability of the most important part, which is your phone number. In the unlikely event that your pet does have a big adventure, whoever finds them will definitely have a phone and will call you before they even consider mailing your pet to you.

4. Don’t bother providing your email address (unless your phone number is not a reliable contact method).

It can be tempting to try to provide multiple ways to contact your pet through their ID tag. Not only do we understand this – we encourage it – but we can only do it if it’s sensible. Including an email address is not the right approach. Unless your address is very short, it will most likely be too long to easily fit on one line, so it will only take up significant space. Additionally, email is a less direct way to communicate with people than calling or texting on the phone. Some people don’t even check email for days…

5. Microchip information takes up a lot of space. It can be helpful to know if your pet is microchipped in case it is discovered by someone who knows what to do with that information.

However, adding a microchip to a pet's ID tag often takes up several lines of text (because the numbers are so long). Additionally, not everyone who ends up finding your pet will know what to do with that long, weird number. It's not at all as self-explanatory and intuitive as a phone number. If you want to include microchip details *just in case* (this can be handy if your phone number or address changes before you have time to update the information on your pet's tag - consider simply mentioning "microchip" or "Microchip" on the tag. This will alert the finder to take the pet to a place where a microchip is available. Finally, remember that the most important information revealed by scanning the microchip should already be on the ID tag anyway.