Pet insurance - Tips & Advice - Keeping your pet safe
When pets go AWOL
Every pet owner’s worst nightmare is for their cat or dog to go missing – and sadly, the chances of it happening are quite high. Every week more than 2,500 dogs and over 3,200 cats go missing in the UK (source: Missing Pets Bureau). Cats especially love to roam and have been known to cover hundreds of miles to return to their territory after their owners have moved house. Other cats decide that the menu at the house down the road is better and decide to adopt one of your neighbours as their new owner.
Dogs, on the other hand, are less likely to go missing, as they don’t go out on their own, but are often victims of dog nappers – 38% of dogs reported as missing are stolen (source: Missing Pets Bureau). While you can’t guarantee that your pet will never go missing or be stolen, there are steps you can take to help identify them if and when they resurface. Always have up-to-date photos of your pet along with his or her identity records. And make sure both the pictures and description include any unusual markings.
Protecting your dog
You are required by law under the Control of Dogs Act 1992 to place a collar on your dog with details of his owner attached to it – a name and telephone number should suffice. You could be fined up to £2,000 if you don’t.
Owners of pedigree pets are more vulnerable to dog theft. One way to put off professional thieves who might be on the lookout for dogs to breed from is to add the words ‘I am neutered’ on your pet’s tag. If you have microchipped your pet (see below for more on this) add the words ‘Scan my chip’ to the tag.
Lost your cat?
When your cat goes missing check everywhere – the loft, cellar, cupboards, under beds, in sheds – cats love to hide – and ask your neighbours to check their outbuildings too. Once you’ve established that your cat has indeed gone AWOL, pass on his or her details to local vets, the police station, local schools (kids are great seekers) and the local animal rescue organisations.
It is especially important to have details of your animals held at a central bureau (as in the case of microchipping, see below). Many cats are picked up as strays – cats are notorious for losing their collars – and are subsequently re-housed or even destroyed. All the while a family is mourning the loss of their much-loved pet.
All about microchipping
What is it? A small chip is inserted under the skin of your pet, normally in the shoulder area with a unique number that identifies you as the animal’s official owner. You can ask your vet to microchip your animal. Once it has its microchip, all a vet (or another official) has to do is to move a scanner over him or her to find out who the owner is.
It is standard procedure for veterinary surgeries to scan injured or sick animals that are brought in without their owners. Police and rescue centres always scan lost or seemingly stray animals. If your pet is microchipped, call the relevant call centre (you will have been given the details when the chip was inserted) as soon as you realise he or she is missing.
Labelled with love
Don’t like the idea of microchipping your pet? You can tattoo a serial number on them instead – normally this goes on the inside of its ear, and it works in the same way as a microchip. Finally, don’t forget to update your records when you move. Unbelievable as it sounds, there have been instances of pets not being reunited swiftly with their owners because they’d moved and the details on file were out of date.
There are additional options you can add to a Direct Line pet insurance policy that will help if your cat or dog is lost. These include providing cover towards the cost of advertising and reward and reimbursement if your pet cannot be found. For more information, see our pet insurance summary of cover.
Sources:
• www.saferpets.co.uk
• www.nationalpetregister.org
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