The Future of Pet Safety: Why NFC Pet Collars are the Smart Choice for Modern Pet Parents

We are pet owners, too. When it comes to our pets, we want them all safe and sound! The traditional engraved metal tag has been a staple for many years when it comes to pet identification. They're a bit of a classic but also have their downsides - for example, the writing on them can wear away over time; they clink against other items; and they only provide a fraction of the amount of information necessary if ever your pet is lost.

NFC is the technology that lets you hold your phone up to pay at the store. When applied to dog collars it takes a basic product and turns it into a full-blown, constantly changing, digital identification. The following points are the major benefits of using NFC technology in dog collars, and why this technology is basically a MUST for your dog.

If someone does the right thing and finds your lost dog or cat, and it happens to have a normal micro chip, they have to take that animal to a vet or a shelter that has a scanner to see the information on that chip. NFC collars eliminate this step. With an NFC collar, all someone has to do is tap their iPhone or Android phone on the NFC tag on the collar. Within about two seconds, the person will see your pets online profile and will be able to contact you right away. No special scanner or no need to have an app on their phone.

When you lose your home address or purchase a new phone number, you are required to buy another physical tag for your pet. With an NFC collar, this is no longer the case. Information contained on an NFC tag is stored on a cloud server. You have access to a simple platform, and you may change all of your contact information (including address and emergency contact numbers) at your leisure. The metal tag is always going to be the exact same one. The data associated to it can change at any time.

Traditional pet metal tags usually contain a name and phone number because of size limitations. An NFC Digital Profile, on the other hand, can store a huge amount of critical information, which may include:

• Medical conditions (ie: “I am diabetic”, “I am Deaf”)
• Severe allergies
• Current medications
• Contact information for your veterinarian
• Dietary restrictions

Pets can go missing. If your finds a pet that has special medical needs, it could be a life saving situation.

NFC tags (unlike GPS trackers) are passive devices that do not require batteries to work and, therefore, do not require charging. The phone which scans the tag supplies a very small amount of power required for the functioning of these tags and the tags draw it from the phones. High end NFC chips can also be incorporated into very solid, water-resistant adventure-style materials to allow them to resist the elements and rigorous physical activities without being damaged by water, mud, or other environmental factors.

We know how critical privacy is. It can be invasive when there is a physical tag displaying your home address and personal phone number for anyone to see. Many of the pet ID platforms that use NFC technology provide privacy settings that you can alter to protect yourself. Many of them allow you to not display your actual address at all or have the profile only display certain information when you mark your pet as “lost” in the system.

Upgrade their collar and feel better about everything again. The NFC pet collar is more than a technology logger. It connects directly from your pets to the people around them. When you combine the availability of a physical tag and the availability of data on an NFC collar, you get something that sets your mind at ease.