One lakh pet dogs in Chennai to get microchips to track owners who abandon the animal

The number of stray dogs in the city has increased to 1.8 lakh owing to abandonment by residents. 

Chennai Corporation will start microchipping of one lakh pet dogs next month, to prevent abandonment of the animals, track owners, impose a hefty fine on the residents who abandon pet dogs, regulate breeding and resolving public health issues associated with the animals. The number of stray dogs has increased to 1.8 lakh owing to abandonment by residents.

After microchipping is completed, the civic body is also planning to restrict the number of dogs in a household, based on the size of house and neighbours in the area. “We are studying the legal provisions. The guidelines of the Animal Welfare Board of India are not clear. We have to amend the statutory provisions. The maximum number of dogs in a house will depend on the space available at home and the condition of the neighbourhood. We will make a decision soon,” said an official. 

The microchips in the dogs will have the owner’s name, address, breed, vaccination status, whelping status, date of sterilisation, status of anti rabies vaccine. Once the App is developed, microchipping is completed and the database is ready, GCC will send messages to the owners about the date of revaccination to prevent rabies.

Chennai Corporation is yet to fix the fee for microchipping of dogs. “The licence fee for dogs is ₹50. We will finalise the fee for microchipping of dogs after the software is created. Microchipping of dogs will be mandatory,” said an official.  GCC will conduct camps for microchipping of dogs in each of the 200 divisions of the city. In addition to camps, six veterinary clinics of GCC will implant microchips. The GCC veterinary clinics are located at Thiru.Vi.Ka Nagar, Kannammapet, Meenambakkam, Nungambakkam, Pulianthope and Lloyds Colony. According to the recent dog survey, the sterilised stray dog population was 29% while unsterilised dog population was 71 per cent. GCC sterilises around 15,000 stray dogs every year.

GCC has started compiling details of registered veterinary practitioners who will also be permitted to implant microchips. The veterinary hospitals of the Animal Husbandry Department at five locations including Saidapet and Tiruvottiyur will also provide microchipping services for residents who own pet dogs. Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University facilities in Madhavaram, and Vepery will implant the microchips. GCC is planning to rope in 60 private veterinary hospitals and 150 registered veterinary practitioners for the microchipping of pet dogs. The civic body will prepare a standard operating procedure soon.