Another Reason to Include "Diabetes" on your Dog's Tag

NEW YORK - OCTOBER 17: (L-R) Spock and Captain Kirk, Mastiffs,  (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

The ASPCA just sent me another message that relates to my last post.  According to them, dogs are being stolen at an outrageous rate:  "The American Kennel Club, which has been tracking pet thefts since 2007, reported a 32% increase in dog thefts last year."  Their article, "Dognapping On the Rise—Protect Your Pet," gives some commonsense advice about how to prevent this, mainly having to do with not leaving your dog unattended in public places.  The list ends with an admonition to get your dog microchipped.  However, it occurs to me that thieves are not likely to want a dog that has diabetes, considering that, as far as they know, it could experience a crisis at any moment, possibly while they are trying to sell it.  In fact, since the theft itself could be traumatic for the dog, a blood sugar crash is almost likely to happen.

So, here's another reason to put the word "Diabetes" on the front of the tag (the thieves have no reason to look at the back, do they?).  Let them know that your friend has special needs.  I'm not saying that they'll bring it back, unfortunately, but the next person to encounter it might.

Related articles

• Dog Thefts Rising: Keeping Them Safe, Finding Them if Stolen (blogs.lawyers.com)
• Dog thefts on the rise, AKC says; owners on alert (abclocal.go.com)
• Diabetes in Pets is on the Rise (mypetsaid.wordpress.com)
• Dognapping Caught On Camera (kake.com)
• Guard llamas: the ultimate crimefighters? (guardian.co.uk)
• Rescue dog that searched for Sarah Townsend has been nominated for American Kennel Club award (nj.com)
• 15 Dogs Who Surf Better Than You (huffingtonpost.com)
• Nearly 25-Percent Of Texas Dogs Are Obese (dfw.cbslocal.com)

What if your diabetic dog is lost?

Space Canine Patrol Agents (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here's an issue I've hardly touched on, and I have to thank the ASPCA for making me think about it.  On the Fourth of July, I received an email from them with the headline "What to do if your pet is lost."  I remembered when that actually happened to me, with the added complication that my dog was on insulin. 

Tony liked to go off on his own, so we were always careful about closing doors and making sure he hadn't been digging under the backyard fence, but sometimes he just managed to slip out (little dogs can get through very small spaces).  When he was first diagnosed with diabetes and put on insulin, I worried about this, so I ordered him a new I.D. tag.  The front had his name, but underneath that it said "I have diabetes."  My name and phone were on the back.  I should point out that one of my worries with him getting loose was that the people who found him might want to keep him, since people went crazy over him every time I took him anywhere, so I had already had him microchipped.

Well, one night his new tag was tested.  It was about 10PM in early September, and my brother in law Steve wasn't paying attention when he went out to get something from his car.  Tony was off to the races.  We all went out and searched the neighborhood, without any luck.

You can imagine how happy we were when, right after we got back to the house, the phone rang (with good news).  It was a man who lived on the other side of the subdivision (I wish I could remember his name), and he had Tony.  Steve (who felt very guilty) volunteered to go get him.  It turned out that for some reason only a dog would understand, Tony had gone to the back door of that house and started barking.  The man opened the door to see what was going on, and Tony ran in, just as if he owned the place.  The man told Steve that he called as soon as he saw the tag that said Tony had diabetes.  So, not only did we get Tony back, but we didn't have to spend the whole night worrying, which had happened in the past.  And that was a real possibility, according to Steve, who said that when he got there, the children of the house were playing with Tony -- and they were not happy that he had to leave.  I can see someone waiting to call until morning, considering it was late.

My advice:  get the microchip, but be sure to put the diabetes on the dog's tag.  It's a little bit of insurance that might make a difference. 

Related articles

• If IRON MAN Had Diabetes... (diabetesdaily.com)
• Explain Diabetes...in Response to Rude Comments (diabetesdaily.com)
• Talking Hypo Alert Canines...In the Dogs Days of Summer (diabetesmine.com)
• My Diabetic Strategy (ourpoetrycorner.wordpress.com)
• Tips to keep dogs calm during fireworks (wcpo.com)
• Keeping your pet safe over the Fourth of July holiday (fox6now.com)
• Nearly 25-Percent Of Texas Dogs Are Obese (dfw.cbslocal.com)
• Family Working To Obtain Service Dog For Diabetic 2-Year-Old (pittsburgh.cbslocal.com)

From the dog-lover's mail bag

Image via WikipediaI got an e-mail from the ASPCA yesterday reminding me that April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month, and it seemed like a good time to take note of a bunch of messages I've gotten the past couple of weeks.  For some reason, the ASPCA is still carrying me as a member even though I can't afford to donate anything right now (thanks, guys).   This is their 145th year, and, as they do every year, they are asking people to "Go orange for animals," and selling a number of orange garments and other products on their website.  They're also running a photo contest.
I'm sorry to say that most of the mail I've been getting lately involves animal cruelty.  For example, DogTimes has an item that was pretty horrifying about a dog who was hit by a car six weeks ago and only got medical care last week!
Healthy Dog News (from WebMD) has less distressing material in their most recent issue.  The cover story is about whether or not pets should be shaved for the summer (most shouldn't, some can be), but the article that drew my attention was on feeding dogs table scraps.  I'll acknowledge that table scraps were probably the main food supplied by owners before the development of commercial dog food, and that most dogs did okay on them, but I firmly believe that the potential for overfeeding and other problems is great enough to avoid giving your dog "people food" (one thing the article mentions is that dogs' "saliva isn’t designed to break down carbohydrates," while ours is, which is something I didn't know).  As you know, I'm not all that big a fan of commercial dog food, but at least you won't have a situation where everyone in the house is opening a can and slipping some to Rover on the side.

It looks like my in-box has more stuff than I thought.  I'll get to the rest of it next time, but meanwhile, you can do something to help some of the victims of animal cruelty right now, and it won't cost you a cent.  Go to the Animal Rescue Site button that's off to the right, click on it, then click on the box that comes up.  Your click means that advertisers will have to pay the site, and that money goes to help feed shelter animals. 

Related articles

• Merritt-area man gets conditional sentence for dragging dog behind truck (theprovince.com)
• Top Ways to Help Animals in Your Community (aaccc.wordpress.com)
• 3 Arrested In NYC In 2 Separate Animal Cruelty Cases (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• Authorities seize abandoned dog, "Boomer," at Clinton Twp. motel; animal cruelty charges pending (nj.com)
• Queens Woman Charged With Animal Cruelty (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• Animals' DNA Helps Catch Their Abusers (cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Animal Rights Activist Caught On Camera Beating Dog With A Club (dreamindemon.com)