As part of our recently launched PetsAndTick.com information and tick-tracker website, we are offering a pilot tick identification program.

We will be offering identification of ticks that are removed from animals (non-human animals, to be specific). The program will complement our tick-tracking efforts and help gather more information about expanding tick ranges and incursions of new ticks within Canada.

Some disclaimers:

• We can only accept ticks from Canada. (Importing foreign ticks without a permit wouldn’t go over well.)
• We cannot pay for shipping. We are doing this with no funding so we will try to identify any ticks that show up, but we cannot pay to get them here.
• We will identify ticks (e.g. by genus +/- species), but testing of ticks for tick-borne pathogens or provision of medical advice is not part of the program. We are always happy to work with veterinarians on tick-borne disease cases or tick exposure issues, but we cannot offer medical advice directly to pet owners.
• We’ll be as quick as we can, but there’s no guaranteed turnaround time.
• We won’t be doing this forever. We will indicate on PetsAndTicks.com when we are planning to stop the program when we get close to that point.

Disclaimers aside, we encourage pet owners to submit ticks.

Submission information for tick identification can be found here.