National Pet ID™

A verification and interoperability framework connecting shelters, clinics, and public health agencies through companion animal identification — without replacing existing systems.

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Verification Layer

Cross-platform microchip verification and health record authentication without replacing existing systems.

Interoperability

Connects shelters, clinics, and county agencies through shared data standards — not a new database.

Rabies Traceability

Enables pre-exposure vaccine verification and movement tracking to support public health response.

Reproductive Status

Tracks sterilization status across organizations — preventing duplicate procedures and creating verified profiles that unlock low-cost services for owners.

Founder

Built by Dr. Angie Gil Santana, DVM — veterinarian, researcher, and architect of a national companion animal identification and public health traceability framework for the U.S.

Meet the Founder

How It Works (Overview)

Assign persistent, cross-platform animal identifiers
Verify vaccination records including rabies at intake and transfer
Track animal movement across organizations and jurisdictions
Enable rapid public health response with accessible history

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Dashboard Preview Demo Data — Not Live

Pilot preview (demo metrics) — illustrative only

Open Platform

About

Project Origin

National Pet ID is a research-driven interoperability framework developed by Dr. Angie Gil Santana, DVM, addressing documented failures in U.S. companion animal identification, vaccination verification, and inter-jurisdictional traceability — with a primary focus on rabies surveillance infrastructure.

Motivation

Document and address microchip verification failures and vaccination record gaps at shelter intake and animal transfer
Enable rabies traceability across organizations and jurisdictions without replacing existing systems
Build a voluntary interoperability layer that connects shelter management software, veterinary records, and public health agencies
Generate primary evidence on verification failures to support peer-reviewed publication and evidence-based policy
Strengthen emergency reunification readiness through accessible, verified animal health data

Design Principles

Complementary, not competitive — built to integrate with Shelterluv, PetPoint, and existing registries
Voluntary framework — no regulatory authority required for adoption
Privacy-first: role-based access control, minimal data exposure, no private server storage requirements
Evidence-based: all framework decisions grounded in peer-reviewed literature and primary survey data

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How It Works

The Problem: Three-Node Failure

Evidence from CDC, JAVMA, and peer-reviewed literature documents a three-node systemic failure in U.S. companion animal identification — each node independently amplifying rabies and zoonotic disease risk.

Node 1 — Identification Failure: Animals lack persistent, cross-platform identifiers. Shelter, clinic, and government records use incompatible systems with no interoperability (Vinic 2019; Woodruff 2019)
Node 2 — Movement Without Verification: Animals transfer across jurisdictions with absent or unverifiable health records. Only 35% of rescue transfers test before transport; rabies verification rates are unknown (Drake & Parrish 2019; Freedman CDC 2024)
Node 3 — Response Latency: When disease events occur, public health systems must manually reconstruct animal history across multiple agencies — adding days to outbreak response (Ludmer CDC 2025; Freedman 2024)
Scale: 3,760 animal rabies cases reported in 2023 (+5.1% YoY); cats are the #1 rabid domestic animal with 222 confirmed cases (Boutelle JAVMA 2025)

The Solution: Voluntary Interoperability Layer

National Pet ID is a voluntary verification framework that addresses each failure node without replacing existing platforms:

Persistent cross-platform identifiers linked to existing microchip records and shelter management software
Standardized health record transfer at intake and inter-organizational movement — including rabies vaccination verification
Accessible animal history for public health authorities during disease events — reducing response latency from days to hours
No regulatory authority required — voluntary adoption by shelters, clinics, and county agencies

Technical precedent: Dalla Villa et al. (2013) demonstrated this web service architecture integrating 3 Italian regions with 300,000+ dogs without replacing existing platforms.

Workflow Process

Assign Persistent Identifier: Animals receive a cross-platform ID linked to existing microchip and shelter records
Verify Health Records: Rabies vaccination and health history verified at intake and before inter-organizational transfer
Track Movement: Standardized health data travels with the animal across jurisdictions
Enable Public Health Response: Complete verified history accessible to health authorities during disease events
Aggregate Surveillance Data: De-identified trends support rabies vaccination coverage monitoring and outbreak prediction

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Platform

Dashboard (Preview) Demo Data — Not Live

Preview environment — features under development. All metrics shown are illustrative demo data.

National Pet ID — Pilot Preview

This dashboard is a functional preview to demonstrate workflows. All figures are demo data. Pilot access is invitation-only.

Sample Pet Records Demo Data

Pet ID	Name	Species	Status	Rabies	Spay/Neuter	Zoonotic	Registered By	Last Update
NPI-2025-001	Max	Dog	Reunited	Up to date	Neutered	None	Austin Animal Center	2025-01-08
NPI-2025-002	Luna	Cat	Lost	Due soon	Spayed	Flag: Respiratory	Dr. Smith Clinic	2025-01-09
NPI-2025-003	Rocky	Dog	Shelter Hold	Unknown	Unknown	Flag: GI	County Intake	2025-01-10
NPI-2025-004	Bella	Dog	Active	Up to date	Not reported	None	Partner Shelter	2025-01-10

Active Research — Data Collection Open · 2025

Research Initiative

Cats are the most frequently reported rabid domestic animal in the U.S. — 222 confirmed cases in 2023. Most exposure events involve animals with no verifiable ID or vaccination record accessible to public health authorities. This research documents the identification and traceability gap that makes post-exposure response reactive instead of preventive.

Participate in the Survey

The Verification Gap: A Documented Public Health Risk

In August 2024, a single unmanaged cat colony in Cecil County, Maryland triggered a multi-state public health response — hotel record reviews, reverse-911 messaging, and cross-state health department coordination. The cat had no registered ID, no vaccination record, and no colony management program. The same month, CDC reported that 18% of imported dogs with documented rabies vaccinations could not confirm revaccination compliance because no verification system existed at the point of entry.

Sources: Ludmer et al., CDC MMWR 2025 · Freedman et al., CDC MMWR 2024 · Boutelle et al., JAVMA 2025

Three-Node Failure Model

Evidence from 28 peer-reviewed sources supports a three-node model of systemic failure that National Pet ID directly addresses:

Node 1 — Identification

Animals lack persistent, cross-platform identifiers

Shelter, clinic, and government records use incompatible systems with no interoperability. No national governing body or standardized data collection exists for companion animals.

Vinic et al. 2019 · Woodruff et al. 2019–2020 · Dalla Villa et al. 2013

Node 2 — Movement Without Verification

Animals transfer across jurisdictions without verified health records

Only 35% of rescue organizations test animals before interstate transport. Rabies vaccination verification rates during transfers are unknown. Import compliance is confirmed only retrospectively.

Drake & Parrish 2019 · Freedman CDC MMWR 2024

Node 3 — Response Latency

Disease events require manual reconstruction of animal history

When rabies exposure occurs, public health authorities must manually review hotel records, coordinate across state health departments, and use reverse-911 — adding days to response time.

Ludmer et al. CDC MMWR 2025 · Freedman CDC MMWR 2024

National Pet ID addresses each node through a voluntary web service layer: persistent cross-platform IDs (Node 1), standardized health record transfer at movement (Node 2), and accessible verified history for real-time public health response (Node 3) — without replacing existing shelter management systems.

National Survey — Now Open

Is your organization able to verify an incoming animal's rabies vaccination history — and track sterilization status across transfers? We are collecting primary data from animal shelter and rescue professionals across all 50 states. Your responses are anonymous and will contribute directly to a peer-reviewed publication in Animals (MDPI, 2025).

18 questions · 5–7 minutes · Anonymous · No commitment required · Findings shared pre-publication with respondents

Open Survey

States Targeted

189

Organizations Contacted

Survey Items

Peer-Reviewed Sources

Federal Policy Alignment

CDC One Health Framework: Research directly addresses companion animal identification gaps in zoonotic disease surveillance — explicitly called for in CDC One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization Report 2023
USDA National Animal Disease Traceability: Proposed voluntary framework complements existing livestock traceability with a companion animal equivalent
CDC Import Regulations (Aug 2024): Updated CDC dog import rules requiring revaccination verification at registered facilities — direct confirmation of the verification gap this research addresses

Contact the Research Team

For research inquiries, collaboration opportunities, letters of support, or to request pre-publication findings:

Dr. Angie Gil Santana, DVM
Principal Researcher, National Pet ID Research Initiative
research@nationalpetid.com

Take the Survey

Get Involved

🔬 Participate in Our Research Survey

Is your organization able to verify an incoming animal's rabies vaccination history? Can you track sterilization status when animals transfer between organizations? Your experience is the data. Complete our anonymous 18-question survey and contribute directly to a peer-reviewed publication in Animals (MDPI, 2025) on national animal identification and rabies traceability infrastructure.

Open Survey — 18 Questions, Anonymous

Request Pilot Access

Join our invitation-only pilot program to help shape the future of companion animal identification and interoperability.

Contact Information

For research inquiries and letters of support: research@nationalpetid.com

For general inquiries: info@nationalpetid.com

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