Digital ID chips have been implanted in 65,000 dogs in Shanghai to improve canine management and prevent the spread of rabies after dog slaughters aimed at curbing rabies in provinces of Yunnan and Shandong drew massive criticism.

The chips contain the dog's individual ID number. To access information about the dog - photo, species, sex, colour, inoculation time, owner's address - you simply have to access the ID number.

Chip developer Wang You said the biggest problem in managing dogs is identifying them.

"We began testing digital chip implants - under the skin of the dog's left ear - in 2001, and rolled the method out citywide in 2004," Wang was quoted as saying.

According to official statistics, Shanghai now has about 100,000 registered dogs and the digital ID system covers most of them.

Dogs are inoculated and given a digital chip during the registration process. The condition of the chip is checked every year.

Implanting dogs with ID chips is supposed to help curb the spread of rabies.

However, it would require more time and funding before the system can be implemented nationwide.

China has some 150 million pet dogs, according to statistics.

It ranks second in the world after India in the number of reported cases of rabies, according to the Ministry of Health.

A total of 2,254 rabies cases were recorded in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 29.69 percent over the same period last year.

And September was the fifth month rabies topped the list of most deadly infectious diseases in China.

Beijing has begun a two-month project to inoculate up to a million dogs in the city, where only 50,000 canines are currently registered. Other cities, like Shanghai and Guangzhou, also registered dogs.

Source-IANS
SRM