Monday, July 29, 2002		Feature

BANGKOK authorities are to put microchip implants in pet dogs carrying data about their owners in a bid to curb the Thai capital’s rising population of strays, officials said last week.

"We think less persons will abandon their dogs because we can trace their owners from the microchips," Deputy City Clerk Udomsak Songkum told Reuters.

The city last month started a four-month campaign to put microchips in 40,000 stray dogs to help keep track of them and the latest move extends the scheme to pets.

Bangkok, which is estimated to have more than 1,20,000 strays among 6,30,000 dogs, plans to neuter and vaccinate strays as well.

The microchip will be implanted between the neck and the shoulder of the dogs when owners report to district offices, required every two years, to update their pet’s data.

Those who fail to turn up could face a penalty of 5,000 baht ($121).

Authorities in predominantly Buddhist Thailand often sterilise stray dogs to keep their numbers down rather than kill them.