I know this is probably preaching to the choir, but I was just baffled by this issue.
I was walking my dog this morning and a lady drove up and asked if I had seen her husky that got loose. I said no and we each continued on our way.
2 blocks later, I see the dog. It was super friendly, came when I called, and was having a blast playing with my dog. Even better news, it was wearing a collar! Until I started looking at the collar closer and realized there were no tags or anything else with contact info for the owner.
I ended up deciding to start walking home, to see if it would follow us. Luckily a few houses later, someone recognized it and was going to call the owner. But, seriously, what if we had not come across someone who knew the dog?
Especially, for a breed that is infamous for running away. Why you wouldn’t pay a couple of bucks for a tag, when it could be life/death for the dog?
/End rant
Plus a microchip in case something happens to the tag. That way any vet can identify your dog and get you reunited.
Would be nice if phones NFC could read the chips.
You can buy them online, they’re not too expensive. I bought a more expensive one that has the detector at the end of along stick so I don’t have to get too close to an unknown animal. I carry it in my car in case I meet another stray I might be able to I’d their person.
Sounds like you just found yourself a marketable product
Do know enough about it, might need to change the whole industry to make it work.
Seconding the chip. If a dog is lost then any dog owner doesn’t need to look for someone who knows someone who owns the dog.