Turns out the collared but no-ID beagle was the best friend of a sick boy, and they reunited. And I am glad they did, of course.
This should be a lesson in pet identification.
Dogs and cats can be “chipped” to make identification easier in case of straying or loss, but there being three proprietary kinds of chips not all shelters and veterinarians will have all the readers. Some combination readers now exist. Also chips and registration aren’t cheap. Sounds like the tag fell off the collar. It may make sense to put a name plate on all collars, which typically costs maybe 20 or 30 bucks, or write carefully on the strap’s backside with a fine tip Sharpie which costs only as much as a $3 Sharpie. I suppose one could also write inside the dog’s or cat’s ear with the Sharpie but it would have to be redone every few days assuming the animal tolerates this. Some have gone to tattoos but they may be considered unsightly and again are not cheap.
Not exactly - it's his Dad that is sick and there is more.
Regarding micro-chipping, the story I posted earlier (Hearts Break Over Beautiful Blonde (a yellow Lab)) shows there are problems with micro-chipping if the owner does not update the dog's records when necessary. I just had my dog micro-chipped last week.