Chennai, 4 October (H.S.) : The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has inaugurated a revamped digital portal to streamline the registration and microchipping of pets and stray dogs across the city, aiming for enhanced monitoring and control. Mayor R Priya officially launched the service on Friday, which coincides with the compulsory microchipping drive scheduled to commence on October 8. This ambitious initiative is touted by GCC officials as the country's first such integrated system designed to give the Corporation greater oversight, monitoring, and surveillance capabilities over the animal population.
The new website will serve as a comprehensive platform accessible to Corporation officials, veterinarians, pet owners, and the public for logging general complaints. Officials will utilize the system to access ward- and zone-wise data, including pet counts, male-female ratios, sterilisation and vaccination coverage, and records of animal cruelty, which will also aid in tracking disease outbreaks. For pet owners, the new system mandates a one-month deadline to get their animals tagged. Licenses, which cost Rs 50, now require owners to upload the pet’s photo, details, and a valid Anti-Rabies Vaccination (ABV) certificate, with validity tied directly to the certificate's expiry, necessitating annual renewal.
The most significant update is the compulsory microchipping of pets. Officials confirmed that licenses will now only be issued following verification of the microchip by zonal veterinary doctors. The microchips store the owner’s details, which is crucial for identifying abandoned or lost animals. The service is being offered free of cost at six designated GCC veterinary centres across the city. GCC officials stated that the integration of both government and private veterinary hospitals into the platform will allow the Corporation to “monitor health conditions and respond more quickly to outbreaks at the ward or zone level.”
The portal is also linked to the ongoing stray dog management programme, which has seen 72,345 stray dogs sterilised and vaccinated since 2021. Furthermore, the Corporation is set to begin door-to-door checks in November to verify licensing and vaccination compliance.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Dr. R. B. Chaudhary
