LizT Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 we have a slap tattooer here for pigs .. numbers are configured by metal pins on a flat head ..then it is well inked , and whacked onto a piggy shoulder . My guess it hurts ! Think of a small hairbush with pointy pins instead of soft bristles ..... Better than heat branding/burning That always looks and smells just awful. Mind you, it is a very small surface area in comparison to teh size of the animal.... I have never heard of anyone branding a dog ..the skin is way too thin, and there is not the fat/muscle underneath to absorb heat fast enough ..I think it would be absolute cruelty . Freeze branding still 'burns' permanently damages/scars skin Yes Perse, freeze branding is terribly painful too. My daughter had warts frozen on her hands when she was 12 with dry ice...hours later she was in the worst kind of pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 Mixeduppup...may I ask what sort of tattoos are you speaking of on your dogs? where are they tattooed? Was a gun as used for human tattoos used? When you speak of "in one motion" what does that mean? I have only tattooed anesthetized animals similar to the way the pigs are branded with a spiked flat head post op desexing. Certain breed clubs tattoo pups dont they? I assume they are not anesthetized when it is done. Only re-tattooing at an older age(should it be illegible) requires a GA. I am against vanity tattooing of animals. Redangel. I think that covers it in a nutshell....it is being done for the owners vanity and does nothing to benefit the animal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 (edited) The dogs are tattooed as per WKC main register regulations. The tattoo has the owners initials first followed by the number of the pup and the year it was born (corresponding letters to which year). The tattoos can either be on the left flake or the right ear. The gun is similar to that you'd use for a desexing tattoo or for ear piercing. Everything is on one gun and is over in one squeeze. Ear tattooing doesn't really seem to bother the pups too much, more like a piercing or a chip but flank tattooing seems to cause much more bleeding and pain and I would never do it without local. Edited March 31, 2013 by mixeduppup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ish Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 (edited) Most GSD puppies are ear tattooed at 7 weeks of age too - 3 letters and 3 numbers. The letters signify the breeder and the number for which puppy. As a breeder you're required to keep records of tattoos and owner details and the tattoo is also used to identify the dog for xrays and breed survey (though microchipping has recently become acceptable for this). The pups have a little cry when its done, then usually have a sleep and when they wake up its all forgotten :) Edited March 31, 2013 by ish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I don't think we need to tattoo anymore, microchips can hold all the relevant information, including a note saying whether dog is desexed or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I don't think we need to tattoo anymore, microchips can hold all the relevant information, including a note saying whether dog is desexed or not. Nope. Microchips only have the current owners, not who bred them and for working dogs that's important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 (edited) I don't think we need to tattoo anymore, microchips can hold all the relevant information, including a note saying whether dog is desexed or not. Nope. Microchips only have the current owners, not who bred them and for working dogs that's important. You can have the breeders details on the microchip, at least in Vic you can.Saw it quite a bit working in a pound. Edited March 31, 2013 by Aussie3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ish Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 (edited) I don't think we need to tattoo anymore, microchips can hold all the relevant information, including a note saying whether dog is desexed or not. Nope. Microchips only have the current owners, not who bred them and for working dogs that's important. I agree - I tattoo my pups so they can always be tracked back to me ETA Having a microchip inserted is equally as traumatic (not very!) to having a tattoo done Edited March 31, 2013 by ish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Actually I recall a story I heard about a really nicely bred and trained kelpie that was found in the pound a few years ago and had a tat and a chip. The chip details were incorrect and so they entered its tattoo details onto the wkc bloodlines database and the breeder took him back. If he was just chipped the breeder would never have had the option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Yeah that's the one issue with chips, they rely on people keeping information up to date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Yeah that's the one issue with chips, they rely on people keeping information up to date. And not just the owners. I just found out, 2 years after getting Weez chipped, that he was never registered anywhere! Not sure if the problem was with the vet or the registry but it was a bit disconcerting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Yes that happened to me with Lili, LBD, her chip just wasn't registered anywhere. All fixed now but it is scary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 (edited) I don't think we need to tattoo anymore, microchips can hold all the relevant information, including a note saying whether dog is desexed or not. Nope. Microchips only have the current owners, not who bred them and for working dogs that's important. We wish. Breeders in Victoria are campagning and do ask owners to leave them on as an additional contact should the pups they bred ever end up in a shelter or pound. Some are very happy to do this. Some don't even update their own details and the pups are still in the breeders name. Unfortunately microchips are only as good as a person contacting and updating it's details at this point. Many people move house and forget that the dog/cat microchip details need updating. There are also those few microchips that "travel" and are not found by the reader who may not be looking all over the dog for a 'Bleep', and assume it's unchipped. Horses are being microchipped too these days athough tattoos and branding are still the most permanent form of identification, although historically attempts have been made to change them. Edited March 31, 2013 by LizT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 There is a secondary contact field where you can put the breeders or shelters name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 There is a secondary contact field where you can put the breeders or shelters name But once the new owner updates they have to enter that or it gets wiped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazyWal Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 My greyhounds have both their ears tattooed as racing greyhounds do, although I think only one ear is done now. One ear has their date of birth(month and year) and the other has a mixture of numbers and letters. Stans are quite faded but Maddies are bright green on her thin little white ears I think it would be bloody painful for them, greyhounds have very thin ears and sensitive skin and to have both ears done at once would be traumatic IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyosha Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 It would be painful Stan's Mum. We used to breed dairy goats and the kids had to be tattooed in their ears in the same style. I used to hate doing it. It's a pair of pliers, and the numbers & letters are made of spikes like needles, they are arranged on one side of the pliers. Then they spikes and ear are inked, the ear is put between them and the pliers closed to punch the ink into the ear. To do it permanently takes a bit of force and spikes sometimes go right through. Yes it hurts, hopefully it doesn't bleed to much and wash the ink out or it has to be re-done. But no anaesthetic is used. I would think that the tattooing referred to in this story is possibly far more human than many livestock identification methods - including Greyhounds who are done in much the same method as described above. Really, the guy sounds a bit of a tosser, but news-worthy cruelty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempus Fugit Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Reading this thread brings to mind an issue which has intrigued me for some time. Normally on DOL and similar forums, any suggestion of piercing the ears of a dog or cat brings forth howls of condemnation eg the 'gothic kittens' affair. However if you do some research on the web, you will find that some animal welfare agencies operating in eastern Europe commonly pierce the ears of stray (urban feral) dogs with ear tags to signify the animals have been de sexed and vaccinated. In Australia, the Queensland government mandates the ear piercing of Fraser Island's dingoes with ear tags to identify them. So are we being hypocritical in not condemning these agencies for animal cruelty or is ear piercing of dogs really ok? Incidentally, I believe freeze branding of hunting hounds is practised in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 A lot of people in the community did and do object to the ear tagging of Fraser Island dingoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 Ear tagging is an age old method of immediate visible identification of livestock and/or wild animals being kept track of herd numbers etc. I don't believe these would ever be done for purely cosmetic self gratification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now