Seoul suburb to register dogs using microchip IDs

By Kim Boram
SEONGNAM, South Korea, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul suburb will begin registering pet dogs using implanted microchips, city officials said Tuesday.

The municipal government of Seongnam, south of Seoul, issued an ordinance on Oct.
1 mandating that all pet dogs be registered with local authorities in what will
be a three-month trial run in two city districts. The system goes into effect
across the city in the second half of next year.
"Dog owners who want to register their dogs can first fill out a form at a pet
hospital and get an operation to implant a small chip in the skin around its
neck," said Jeong Jum-deok, director of agriculture and animal policy team at the
city government.
The 25 sq. millimeter microchip will contain the address of the registered
office, the pet's birthday and breed, and the owner's name, address and phone
numbers.
Once the forms are submitted to the city, the owner will receive a registation
card and the pet's information will be stored in a computer database system of
the agriculture ministry.
"If the dog gets lost or thrown out onto the streets, the information in the chip
can easily help find the owner," Jeong told Yonhap. "A special device reads the
codes to find the owner of the pet."
"We are going to test (this technology) with the dogs first," said Jeong. "If the
system works well, we can consider (doing the same for) cats or other animals."
The city expects the system to cover some 8,000 dogs older than three months.