In 2019, Dr. Mielo surveyed shelters, spay/neuter clinics, veterinary colleges, and private veterinary practices about their awareness and use of the tattoos. Her findings were published in the July 2022 issue of The Veterinary Journal. While only a few private clinics tattoo the dogs they spay or neuter, 80% of shelters and 72% of spay/neuter clinics tattoo the animals they sterilize. Green is the most common tattoo color and the most common placement is near or in the incision for male and female dogs. Dr. Mielo’s report recommends enhanced training for veterinarians to encourage the use of tattoos and protect animals from unnecessary procedures.
You might think that it’s easy to tell if a male dog has had his testicles removed, but this isn’t always the case. While they are uncommon, there are prosthetic testicles – called Neuticles – that can be surgically implanted in place of a dog’s testicles during neuter surgery. Without a tattoo, even a veterinarian wouldn’t know that a dog with Neuticles had actually been neutered!
Finally, the scrotum of male dogs who have retained or undescended testicles (bilateral cryptorchidism) may appear to be empty, suggesting that they are neutered; in fact, their testicles may be located anywhere in their lower abdomen or inguinal canal (the passage through the abdominal wall through which a testicle normally descends). These dogs are generally infertile, but still manufacture testosterone and develop secondary sexual characteristics like the intact males they are.
Dogs who have been spayed or neutered may have a simple tattoo on their tummy. Called a sterilization indicator tattoo, this short straight line of blue or green ink indicates that the dog has had surgery to remove their reproductive organs.
There are two other uncommon practices that render a male dog sterile while preserving the appearance of normal testicles. One is a vasectomy – in which the vas deferens is surgically cut so that sperm can no longer be ejaculated; this may be done if the owner wants the dog to retain his testicles and the hormones they manufacture, but be unable to impregnate a female dog. In another alternative sterilization procedure, called Zeutering, a solution of neutralized zinc gluconate (called Zeuterin) was injected directly into the dog’s testicles; this destroyed the ability of the testes to produce sperm, but only reduced and did not eliminate the dog’s ability to manufacture testosterone. (The company that made Zeuterin stopped selling it in 2016.) The male dogs who are subjected to either of these procedures are tattooed so that they can be identified as unable to reproduce and not subjected to unneccessary and redundant neuter surgery.
Scars may fadeWhen a dog is sterilized, a scar will be left on its belly. But scars may fade, especially if the dog is very young when the surgery is performed, explains Dr. Roth. A tattoo at the incision site lasts forever. Plus, because tattoos are only applied here to indicate that sterilization has occurred, there’s no doubt about their meaning.For male dogs, it may seem like there’s an obvious way to tell if they’re neutered—whether or not they have testicles. But even this isn’t a sure thing. Some dogs suffer from retained testicles that don’t “drop” into the scrotum and therefore are never visible on the outside of their bodies.
“The rationale behind the tattoo,” Dr. Roth explains, “is that we want to prevent the pet from being put under anesthesia and having their body opened needlessly.” This is especially relevant for shelter dogs, who often come in as adults or strays and without any medical history.
Pet spay tattoos also help veterinarians rule out certain diseases and conditions related to the reproductive organs, says Dr. Roth, including pregnancy, a uterine infection or testicular cancer. And if your pet comes in with some urgent distress, a quick check will at least let the vet know whether the problem might or might not be related to this. “Knowing the spay/neuter status of a pet helps us to better help the pet,” Dr. Roth adds.
WHY TATTOO YOUR DOG? Tattoos have been around for a long time, and prior to the 1980s was the preferred way to permanently identify your pets. Many kennels clubs like the Canadian Kennel Club, American Kennel Club, Schutzhund Club, racing dogs and all service dogs (guide dogs, military and police dogs) were required to be tattooed. This insured that each animal had a visible and permanent mark to legally and unmistakably identify each animal. Veterinarians and breeders typically tattooed pets for the owners. With the invention of the microchip and scanners in the late 1970s zoos and field biologists began using microchips to identify exotic animals and soon the microchip companies opened up a whole new and lucrative market to the pet owner. In the beginning there were only 2 makers (AVID & Trovan) with no universal scanner. That meant if your pet was lost, whoever found it had to have the correct scanner or your pets microchip could not be read. Now there are 15 different makers and no universal scanner will read all chips. Not all chips are compatible with international travel.
“Thank you Ms Tawny for the exceptional tattooing that you did on Hazine (Anatolian Shepard) and Sir II (Boxer mix). It surprised me that the small dog was more of a hand full but you handled it all well and your professionalism really showed thru. I am glad to know a professional offering this service to our beloved animals. Thank you again.”LK
Also some types of cancers have been linked to microchips. If you would like to examine the evidence yourself, you can go to www.antichips.com/cancer/index.html to find the links to each original study and a comprehensive 52 page report titled “Microchip-Induced Tumors in Laboratory Rodents and Dogs: A Review of the Literature 1990-2006” by Katherine Albrecht, Ed. D.
These organizations and registries operate identification registries or services. Some of these are specific (i.e. only for tattoos or microchips), but many are not. Make sure that every company that registers a tattoo can search in their database using the tattoo number. If they cannot search your pet using the tattoo DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!
What is the procedure? In general, an area on the inside of the rear leg (thigh) or belly is best as its a common place to look and is more subtle than an ear tattoo. The owner helps hold the animal still, your tattooist will show you how. The procedure for a tattoo is pretty simple: the area for the tattoo is clipped and disinfected with alcohol; a light layer of petroleum jelly is applied to the area so the tattoo marker will move smoothly over the surface of the skin, and the number is applied. The area is then cleansed with disinfecting soap which removes excess ink from the skin. Any numbers that are not clear are retouched at this time. A final layer of petroleum jelly is applied over the finished tattoo to aid scabbing over. A very fine scab (barely visible) will form over the tattoo and will fall off after a day or two. Its best to keep the area around a tattoo scissored or clipped so it can be easily seen if the dog is lost.
Spay/Neuter Surgery: Tattoo Application
The sweet pit-bull mix who was tattooed by her owner while sedated from surgery was released on Friday from the Brooklyn veterinary clinic that allowed the body art.
An exhausted-looking Zion was wearing a neck cone and had the ink covered up with a coat as she was carried out by a Brooklyn Cares staffer and dumped into a minivan owned by tattoo artist Alexander Avgerakis’ father.
The vet clinic, at Fulton Street and St. James Place in Clinton Hill, promises pet owners, “Our approach is holistic, which involves using traditional and conventional methods . . . to keep your pets looking and feeling their best.”
“We have policies against cosmetic procedures because, ultimately, the animal doesn’t benefit. It’s not for the good of dog, even if owner might enjoy it,” said Emily Patterson-Kane, an AVMA animal-welfare scientist.
She added, “When a vet has them under his or her care and control, they are responsible for the animal — so they are implicated. We expect vets to know what’s happening on their premises.”
The Brooklyn Cares clinic has a spotty track record with pet owners, who have complained online about the services and called staffers unfriendly.
“There is nothing in law or regents rules that speaks to or restricts the act of applying tattoos. We simply can’t say whether professional misconduct has occurred in this case without knowing more details,” said Jonathan Burman, a spokesman for the state Department of Education.
Avgerakis, who goes by the moniker “Mistah Metro,” bragged about tattooing his pooch after her surgery on Wednesday.
“My dog is cooler than yours! She had her spleen removed yesterday, and the vet let me tattoo her while she was under,” he posted on Instagram, making animal lovers roaring mad.