The PetPort tag: a QR code that works without an app
How does a pet QR tag work?
A PetPort tag is a QR code on your pet's collar linked to a Pashu Aadhaar — a permanent digital ID. Anyone who finds your pet scans it with an ordinary phone camera, with no app to install and no account to create, and can reach you straight away. You get an alert the moment it is scanned.
How it works
Your pet gets a Pashu Aadhaar
A permanent digital identity for your pet, created in the app. It stays with the animal for life — through a change of collar, a change of phone, and a change of home.
The tag goes on the collar
A QR code linked to that identity. Nothing personal is printed on it, so a tag lying on the ground gives a stranger nothing.
A finder scans it with any phone
The camera app opens a web page. No install, no sign-up, no account — because somebody holding a frightened dog will not download an app to help you, and should not have to.
You are told, immediately
The scan alerts your household. If you have marked the pet lost, the page also shows the emergency contacts you chose, so the finder can ring you rather than wait.
What the finder sees
- Your pet's name, photo and breed, so they know they have the right animal
- That the pet is reported lost, when you have said so
- A way to call you, or to send a sighting with their location if they cannot stay
- Nothing else — not your address, not your other pets, not your records
Why this shape, in India
Most Indian pets are found by a neighbour, a security guard or a shopkeeper long before they reach a shelter with a microchip scanner — and that person is holding a stray dog with one hand and a phone with the other. A tag that needs an app installed does not get used. A tag that opens a page in the camera app does. That is the whole design argument, and it is why the public page is built to work in any browser with no account (Invariant 14).
Questions people ask
What should I do if my dog is lost?
Act in the first hour: search the immediate area calling normally rather than shouting, tell your local vets and shelters, and post in neighbourhood groups with a clear photo. If your dog wears a QR tag, mark them lost in the app — a scan then alerts you instantly and shows the finder how to reach you.
Does the person who finds my pet need to install an app?
No. The tag opens an ordinary web page in whatever browser their phone already has. Requiring an install would be the same as having no tag at all — a stranger doing you a favour at the roadside will not download software to do it.
Is a QR tag better than a microchip?
They do different jobs and work well together. A microchip is permanent but needs a vet or shelter with a scanner to read it. A QR tag can be read by any passer-by with a phone, in the first minutes, which is when most pets are actually found. Keep the microchip number in the app too.
What if someone scans the tag who is not helping my pet?
The page shows only what is needed to return an animal: name, photo, breed, and a way to contact you. It never shows your address or your other pets. Your contact details appear only when you have marked the pet lost, so a casual scan of a pet at home reveals nothing.
Does the tag work if my phone is off, or I have changed my number?
The tag points at the pet's profile, not at a phone. Change your number in the app and every existing tag keeps working — nothing is printed on the tag that can go out of date, which is the failure mode of an engraved plate.
What is a Pashu Aadhaar?
PetPort's name for a pet's permanent digital identity — an opaque code that identifies the animal without revealing anything about the owner. The QR tag is how that identity is read in the physical world. It is not connected to any government identity system.
Does the tag cost anything to use?
The tag and the public page it opens work on the free tier. PetPort's free plan covers one pet completely, including its digital ID, health records and reminders; paid plans exist only to add more pets.
Losing a pet is not the moment to start setting this up
A tag only helps if it is already on the collar. Set the digital ID up while nothing is wrong — one pet is free, permanently.
What to do if a pet goes missingTag vs microchipRead the care guidesCommon questions