Kochi corporation: Don't abandon pet dogs, microchip to trace them

KOZHIKODE: The city corporation has planned to microchip and license pet dogs to discourage the people from abandoning the aged and diseased pet dogs in the streets. According to experts, abandoned pet dogs are adding to the problem as they are more infectious and aggressive than the street dogs. The corporation will collect the details of each pet dog in the city, including their ownership and breed. “The next time if your dog does not have a microchip with it, it will not be given vaccination,” said Dr Baby Kuriakose, implementing officer, Corporation Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme.

The corporation will develop a software to maintain the database on dogs, which it could not keep so far but due to technical glitches, he added. At the time of implantation, the ID of the dog owners will be fed in the chip. A microchip of the size of a rice grain would be injected into the skin of the dog on the upper part of its body between the two shoulder blades and behind the neck. With the help of a hand- held device, an expert could read out the 14- digit number installed in the chip, he said.