THE Cebu City Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF) is calling on pet owners to have their dogs and cats implanted with microchips for tracking and identification.
The procedure will also make it convenient for people traveling abroad with their pets.
DVMF head Jessica Maribojoc told SunStar Cebu Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, the DVMF has already tagged around 2,000 pets with a radio frequency identification (RFID) microchip since 2013.
Maribojoc said through this technology, lost pets can easily be returned to their owner after the RFID is scanned.
Once a pet escapes the house and gets recovered, the DVMF can scan the microchip to identify the owners and determine if there had been negligence on their part.
The microchip can also help individuals bitten by other people’s pets if the owner denies the pet involved in the incident is theirs, said Maribojoc.
“The microchip is a lifetime identification of the pet which cannot be removed. It’s radio frequency that is embedded in the dog,” Maribojoc said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Interested pet owners will have to pay only P600 for the “perpetual registration” that already includes vaccines, vitamins and microchip tagging, she said.
Before using the RFID microchip, Maribojoc said the DVMF used the method of collar identification of pets, but it was not effective as it can easily be detached.
Maribojoc said embedding RFID microchips in pets is standard practice in the international community and a requirement when a person travels with pets to other countries.
She said RFID microchips are expensive in private veterinary clinics, but the City Government offers the service at a lower rate to encourage pet owners to avail of it.
The microchip which is injected above the pet’s shoulder blade is completely safe, Maribojoc assured.