What Could This Ear Tattoo Mean....?

Hi,

My sister, who lives on the Isle Of Man has recently adopted an Alsatian dog from a rescue centre. The dog is about 4 years old. He has a tattoo in his ear which is blue and reads 'HBO' followed by some numbers but no-one knows much about his history so we're interested to find out what it could mean. Perhaps he has been trained as a police dog but fund to be unsuitable. Can anyone shed any light on what this ear tattoo might mean?

Thank you.

police dogs that fail to make the grade are rehomed through rescue centres so you would have been made aware on adoption. its possible for the pet owning public to have a dog tattooed as a means of i.d. maybe this is whats happened? there is a tattoo directory for the uk maybe they can tell you something of his past.

tatoos must be killflied

tattoos must be killfiled???? whats going on with that??? i dont think dogs should be tattooed, i have one on my arm and would not thank anyone to have put it in my ear, i prefer chipping or dna of course with a collar and tag but i dont get where your coming from.

Some areas require that a dog be tatooed if you purchase a life time dog liscense. It's more likely that's what this is for.

Celeste

in the uk we dont need to have dog licences although i dont think its a bad idea. by law all our grey hound racers are supposed to be tattooed to stop the owners from dumping them when the carreers are over and the moneys been made. only now some of these greedy gits are cutting off the ears and turning them loose. one such owner gave some guy in a pub £10 to do away with a dog and get his ear off. the man took the dogs ear then left him to bleed by the time the dog was found it was so badly injured the vet put him down straight away.