Creation Credentials – Winnipeg Free Press

According to the American Kennel Club, the most popular names for female dogs in 2023 were Luna and Daisy, with Max and Charlie finishing one-two in the male category.

This is nothing new to Melissa LeFort, founder of Tag 4 My Pet, a company that sells personalized identification tags for dogs and cats.

Because of their professions, they know the kinds of names people often choose for their pets, and also love epithets like Maggie and Bear, says Le Fort, sitting next to his daughter and business partner, Marina, at the St. Boniface Cafe near where they live.

The Million Dollar Question: Will any animal lovers choose an old standby like Spot or Fido in this day and age?

Once in a blue moon, mother and daughter speak almost in unison. No, the customer who asked for an ID badge with the Rover moniker can't remember either.

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According to a study by the American Humane Association, approximately 1.5 million dogs and 800,000 cats are adopted as strays in North America each year. The survey found that only 16 percent of dogs and two percent of cats are successfully reunited with their owners, largely because the vast majority were not wearing identification tags when they went missing.

Unfortunately, Le Fort learned the hard way about the importance of pet IDs.

Nine years ago, she lived with her husband Carlos and their two children in Fortaleza, a coastal city of 2.7 million in northeastern Brazil. The family had an eight-year-old Siamese cat named Brigitte, who failed to return home one afternoon.

They searched for the neighbors for days with no luck, Le Fort says, scrolling through his phone to find a black-and-white photo of him and Brigitte.

Le Fort, who immigrated to Canada with her family in 2017, recalled the incident after being laid off from her customer service job in the spring of 2020 due to COVID-19. The family recently adopted a new cat, Mia, to keep up with another cat, Marcos, and a terrier-mix who answers to Bella.

Mia, like her two other pets, requires an ID with her name and their contact information, she told her husband. She jokingly replied that since she was living at home “doing nothing”, why not try crafting herself? Challenge accepted.

LeFort spent a week studying YouTube videos on hand stamping, an old-fashioned technique that involves hammering a metal stamp into metal with a hammer, usually brass, stainless steel or aluminum. has a raised letter or picture at the bottom. Convinced that he could replicate what he was seeing, he and Carlos went shopping for supplies.

Friends and family members were so impressed with Le Fort's invention for Mia that they began asking for something similar for their furs. Since Le Fort had experience running her own business specializing in children's clothing during her time in Brazil, her husband suggested she sell personalized pet tags online to see if there was demand.

Mind you, his daughter is speaking, this was during the first summer of COVID when everyone and their errant dog seemed to adopt some kind of pet. This helps explain why Tag 4 My Pet won the top spot for sales in the pet accessories category within three months of launching as an Etsy Canada store.

One of the things that sets Le Forts apart from the competition is that they pride themselves on customizing tags to match the names customers give their pets. For example, if your Malamute is named Aspen or your Persian goes by Cosmos, they might mix mountains or stars into the finished product. (Melissa still stamps the individual tags by hand, but thanks to Marina, a computer engineering student at the University of Manitoba, they've added a laser-etched design with a QR code to their arsenal.)

“I usually ask a few questions about the pet's personality, to see what kind of images would work best, like flowers or trees,” says LeFort, “of course, why not?” to the question of whether it might be similar to a fire hydrant.

Plus, most people have a sense of humor when it comes to what they want on a tag other than a phone number, address, or dietary restrictions. One person asked them to include a phrase that said their dog absolutely hates cats, and the owner of the bottle, named Winston, was asked to sum it up by saying “I'm lost” to his face.

Chelsea Hayden is the fundraising and adoption coordinator for Tails of Freedom Rescue, a five-year-old nonprofit in the city. Le Fort contacted Hayden in the spring of 2021, about a year after he and his family purchased Mia from Tails of Liberty.

“Melissa loves to support rescues and has helped raise money for our children in need by offering fundraising opportunities,” says Hayden. “Tags 4 My Pets regularly holds fundraisers with our proceeds, and when we've had a large turnout, we've made and donated dozens of custom tags for our foster dogs.”

Le Fort has also entered into a permanent partnership with the rescue organization that will receive 20 percent of the revenue from every ID ordered using the promotional code Tails of Freedom.

“The code also gives 15% off any tag and is offered to everyone who adopts a child through us as part of their final adoption package,” Hayden adds. “Over the last couple of years, we have become very familiar with their products. Both our foster animals and our own team animals have been marked by them and love them.”

Le Forts has shipped nearly 40,000 signs to people in 27 countries, including Australia and Singapore. In addition to cats and dogs, they have made tags for rabbits, hedgehogs, and recently, if ordered, alpacas. They also offer accessories like collars and bag dispensers, not to mention engraved keychains, for their two-legged customers.

“95 percent of our sales come from online orders — I call my mom the human Amazon — but we're working on a model that allows us to set up displays for crazy people in pet stores and vet offices. about online shopping,” says Marina. “We'll have examples of different tags and people can call us with their pet's name, and we'll usually have it ready in two days.”

Although Le Fort wishes his tags were purely decorative and not required for their purpose, he is relieved to learn that he is heartbroken after losing Brigitte.

“A man in Prince Edward Island recently lost his dog, Charlie, and the only reason he was found 20 kilometers from home was because he was wearing one of our tags,” he says. “Charlie's owner was so excited that she immediately ordered her own dog from the family that found him.”

Go to tag4mypet.com for more information

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