How to trace owners by tatoo number
 

Hello,

I have been contacted by someone who has found a CsV in Sofia, Bulgaria. This young female is about a year old, very friendly and quite used to being indoors. She has a tattoo X1472 (they haven't been able to check the microchip as the scanner at the vet's is broken). How can I search the database for this number or even for registered dogs in Bulgaria? She is not one of ours, they are all accounted for :), but she is staying with the owner of one of our girls.

I will check with the BRFK to see if they can help, but any suggestions would be very welcome :).

It cannot be a dog from Slovakia, as we are now at more than 2000. Czech republic does not tattoo anymore. Moreover, Slovakia (and as far as I know Czech republic before switching to chips only) has the format nnnn = four numbers. The X you wrote is a letter X, or an illegible character? It may help finding out the country of origin.

Germany doesn´t tatoo either, we use Mikrochips

Curious, do some European country's KC record the tattoo, and is there a central registry for tattoo numbers? And who assigns the numbers?

Some people in the US still tattoo their dogs as a form of ID, but being there is no central registry, anyone can tattoo whatever they want and that means there can be repeats, and it also means that even if you see a tattoo on a dog, there really isn't any central registry you can go to look up information on the dog, owner, or breeder.

Yes, Slovakia still uses tattoos for IDing dogs, but this is the last year and we are switching to the chips as well. Some people argued that tattoos are better, some that chips (I see the positives and negatives on both sides).
Basicaly, in wolfdogs the tattoo number is the same as the dog's registration number, so it can be found from the stud book (if that is the proper name).

I think tattooing your dog is more like a matter of looking for and identifying lost dogs, not identifying the found ones. Like you can post a message "did someone see out Fifi, JRT-like mix with 1547 tattooed in her right ear?" It is easier to identify the dog then. And you do not need chip reader.

Thanks everyone. The Bulgarian Kennel Club were no help at all - they do not register tattoo numbers only microchips. As far as I know, the X is the actual letter. I was just wondering if there is any way to search this database for the tattoo number (assuming it is registered!) as I have noticed that they are recorded on here - any admins have a response to this question?

I am trying to find out if there are any widely used websites here in Bulgaria that we can put a notice on. This poor girl is clearly upset by what is happening (but at least she has 'fallen' into good hands whilst we try to locate her owners :) ). She is settled and friendly and safe for the time being.

If anyone else has any suggestions as to how to find her owners, please let me know.

Thanks again :)

It`s not polish too
we have pattern with one upper case (`X` is litter register in Krosno ->south-east Poland, but there was no wolfdog litters born) and three numers.

Italy also tattoos their dogs (at least they did in 2009...), and I think they use 5 letters/numbers. My dog was tattooed on his abdomen. Might be worth checking with their registry?

And WHERE is this taatoo number? In ear?

Yes, the tattoo is in the left ear.

I have found some tattoo registries so will contact them all today to see if we can find out who she is.

Once again everyone, thanks for the suggestions :)

Hm, does any club tattoo wolfdogs in ears? I mean as far as I know the tattooing in ears is done only in breeds where the ears do not stand, so in that case the tattoo would be unofficial, and the dog can very well be a mutt. And in that case no registry will help, I would look more in local newspapers.

And I would put out advertisements, but not tell about the tattoo number (just that there is one) so that the ones who provide it would for sure be the rightful owners.

Good luck finding the owners!

Yes, in Czech we don´t taatoo dogs to ears. So this dog is not from Czech.

OT: I had seen pedigree of wolfdog in Romania, which was 100% false. "Handmade" in living room. This pedigree was from Slovakia, but I think "breeder" did not know parents in pedigree are long time dead = is not possible to be parents of this puppy. So maybe your dog comes from this source?

Thanks Saschia, this is what we are hoping to do and thanks for your good wishes :) . Saying there is a tattoo, but not what it is will stop the wrong people claiming the dog. I was surprised to be told she had a tattoo on her ear as I thought it was only dogs whose ears are not erect had it there too. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find out the microchip number (if there is one...). Even if she is a mutt, by all accounts she is a lovely dog and must surely be missed by her owners. She deserves all we can do to get her home.

My vet gave me the name of a Bulgarian site that I hope to place an ad on later.

No doubts about that, all dogs deserve to return to their loving homes. Good luck again and let us know about the results!

In Poland dogs can have tatoo in ear. We have minimum one csv litter with tatoo in ears :)

What about possibility she is not a CSW, but Saarloos?