When we do a Trap Neuter Release [TNR] the cat gets a rabies vaccine. If that is handled through the shelter they do not get a tag because they know that cat’s going to be re-released and no one’s ever going to need to prove it was vaccinated. If anyone has any doubts they can just see that it’s got a clipped ear and know that it’s already been done.
But if it’s done through a veterinary office, you get the tag. But the tag doesn’t follow the cat. So I have a pile of rabies tags.
Keep thinking I need to get all the rabies tags that all the other TNR people have and do some kind of art project with them. Maybe get it put up at a local watering hole with a plea for people to donate to our local SPCA to help fund this work.
Future recipients of rabies tags:
Out of curiosity, why doesn’t the tag go with the cat? It looks like it could fit on a collar.
Wouldn’t it be easier for the person or clinic to keep paper records instead?
cats shouldn’t have collars, it’s not safe they can get stuck and injured them self with it, even with “safety” collars for cats
These are ownerless cats that are caught, neutered, then released back into “the wild”, so to speak.
In Tag Neuter and Release we’re talking about feral kitties. They don’t have collars and it is impractical to give feral cats collars.
There is a permanent record at the clinic but it will likely never be accessed by anyone ever because this cat’s going to get released into the wild and no one’s going to know its name to look it up. It will have no chip to scan. It’s a feral cat that will live in the wild.
This confused me as well.
What they are saying is that all cats get the ear clip to show they’ve been vaccinated, if the cat is not going to a forever home and is just being released back into the streets/wild.
Shelters have more intimate knowledge of whether or not the cat is going to be released, so they don’t bother with the tags. Vet clinics don’t usually handle releasing or holding cats and give a rabies tag to cats that they vaccinate because they deal more with owners and pets who could have a reason to put such a tag on a collar.
The rabies tag should never be put on a collar. Collars get lost. Collars get broken and fall off. Break away collars get left behind. The tags are for your records, not for the animal’s collar.
Then shouldn’t it be a paper certificate or plastic wallet-card? People generally don’t have good ways to organise and store tags like these.
It’s an old system that is due for updates