ILOILO City – The city government, through its Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (DRRMC) City Planning and Development Office (CPDO), is set to implement the Pet Identification and Unified Data Storage Microchip System and Mobile Application for Disaster Preparedness.
“We can probably move on with microchipping next year because, as a smart city, we need to adapt to this new technology,” city veterinarian, Dr. Suzette Leal, said.
The pet identification microchip system, according to Leal, is a permanent and tamper-proof digital documentation that seeks to address an often overlooked area of disaster preparedness – animal management, evacuation, and rescue.
Lack of disaster preparedness for pets increases the number of stray animals afterwards, which are most likely to contract rabies or, on the other hand, cause pet owners’ grief, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, Leal added.
“A scanner is required to read the microchip, and once the ID number is transmitted, the pet’s owner info will be known, and the pet will be reunited to its rightful owner,” Leal said.
The grain-sized electronic chip will be injected only by a licensed veterinarian or trained veterinary technician on pets two months old and up, rabies-vaccinated, not pregnant, and in good health.
The city veterinarian also said this would reduce the number of stray animals, promote responsible pet ownership, and generally make the city a safer place for both humans and pets.
For those skeptical about having their pets implanted, Leal said the microchip “has no battery and does not require a power source like a GPS. It is a radio-frequency identification (RFID) that provides permanent ID for pets”.
“This can be adapted by barangay DRMM councils. There are proposals that this will be implemented to seven pilot barangays in the city, one per district in disaster-prone barangays,” Leal said./PN
