January 15, 1998LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Dog gone?
The city of Los Angeles wants to help find Fido by implanting a microchip under its skin. It will do the same thing for your cat.
To accommodate a city of animal-lovers (it has one of the most renown pet cemeteries), the council Wednesday added a new service. Members approved a pilot project allowing tiny identification microchips to be implanted between the shoulders of a cat or dog adopted from one of the city's pet shelters.
The city will recover the cost of the chips by raising shelter adoption fees from $74 to $89 for dogs and from $50 to $65 for cats.
The council voted 13-1 to adopt the two-year pilot program under which any pet adopted from a city shelter would have the microchip implanted in the skin, providing details on its owner. That way, if the animals gets lost and is picked up by the city, it can be scanned, like groceries at the supermarket, and the owner located.
"We do hope to increase (the return) of owned pets to their owners and to cut down on euthanasia and the heartbreak of somebody coming too late to pick up their pet and finding it's already been adopted by someone else or that it's been euthanized," said Sharon Morris, interim manager of the city's Animal Services.
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
| Wow, i enjoyed that, and would like to see what other wacky stories lie in store for me |
| Boy, this entire news about laser and dogs thing is way lame... I wonder if there could possibly be anything lamer on this page? |