QR code pet tags in the UK: how they work and the law

1. Each tag has its own code, linked to a profile you set up with your pet's photo and details.
2. Someone finds your pet and scans the tag with their phone camera.
3. Your pet's profile opens in the browser, with ways to call or message you.
4. They can send you a message with their location, and if your pet is marked as lost, you're emailed when the tag is scanned.

• Your pet's photo and name, so they know they've got the right pet.
• A clear “reported missing” alert, if you've turned on lost mode.
• Buttons to call or email you, if you've chosen to show them, and your emergency contact.
• A form to message you and share where they are, which works even if your number is hidden.
• Anything they need to know straight away, like medication or “nervous with strangers”.

No. The camera on any modern iPhone or Android phone can read a QR code on its own: on an iPhone, Apple's instructions are to point the Camera at the code and tap the link that appears. There's nothing to download and nothing to type, and the National Cyber Security Centre's advice is to use the phone's built-in scanner rather than a downloaded app anyway.

• Your pet's photo, name and breed
• Medical notes, such as allergies or medication (see medical alert pet tags)
• Behaviour notes, like “nervous with strangers”
• An emergency contact (see our pet emergency plan)
• Your phone number and email, only if you choose to show them

Finders can always message you through the page, so your details can stay private.

If your pet goes missing, turn on lost mode in your dashboard. Anyone who scans the tag then sees that your pet is missing, and you're emailed the moment it's scanned, often with an approximate location. Then work through our lost dog or lost cat checklist.

Moved house or changed your number? Update the profile from your dashboard and the tag shows the new details straight away. Going away? Add your pet sitter as the emergency contact before you go, and change it back when you're home. With an engraved tag, you'd need a new tag each time.

If the tag itself gets lost or damaged, order a replacement and move your pet's profile onto it. The profile stays exactly as it was.

There's no research yet on QR tags specifically, but there is on tags in general, and it's why a tag that anyone can read matters. In a study of 187 lost dogs in Ohio, a licence or ID tag on the collar got about a quarter of the recovered dogs home, while microchips, which few of the dogs had, got two home (Lord and others, 2007). In a national US survey, 15% of lost dogs got home because of a tag or microchip, and most of the rest were found by searching nearby (Weiss and others, 2012).

A QR tag does the same job as an engraved one, with room for a photo, medical notes and a private way to reach you. Our guide to tags vs microchips vs GPS has more on what gets lost pets home.

An engraved tag is simple and anyone can read it, but it only fits a few words, shows your details to everyone and can't be changed if you move or change your number. A QR tag holds much more, you can update it any time and you decide what finders see.

In the UK, dogs in public must wear your name and address on their collar or a tag, so a QR tag needs them too: on the back of the same tag, like a personalised dog tag, or on an engraved tag or the collar alongside it.

A QR tag is printed, so there's nothing to charge and nothing to run flat. A PetTag QR code pet tag is a one-off purchase from £10 with no subscription, and your pet's profile stays free for life. Other tags charge monthly for the profile: what smart pet tags cost goes through what to check.

• Are QR pet tags safe?: what a stranger sees, and what they don't.
• NFC tags vs QR tags: which phones can read which.
• QR tag or engraved tag?: what each does, and when one tag can do both.