The City Veterinarians Office encouraged dog and cat owners to explore the option of microchipping for registration and identification purpose.
CVO Veterinary Inspector Fulmark Valdez, during the I-Speak Media forum, said that pet microchipping is now part of their information and dissemination for responsible pet ownership.
“We encourage [pet owners] sa among EIC.. ang pagbutang og microchip sa ilang mga iro para at least mas ma register naa ta’y registration atong dogs para at least ma identify pa nato sila dlli sila mahimong stray sa atong community (We encourage [pet owners] in our Education and Information Campaign.. the microchipping of the dogs so that at least they will be registered and identified and will not become stray dogs in our community),” Valdez said, adding that for Davao City, only a few were able to microchip their pets.
Valdez said that for Davao City, the promotion of the microchip is new but this option for owners had been already available in other cities.
He said that the main purpose of microchipping is to identify the owner and the dog, which is registered under the local government.
He said that the CVO now offers free implantation of microchips bought by the owners of the dogs that costs Php200-300 each.
Floyd Bascones, the co-founder of the PAWSitivity Project Philippines Inc., said that they had been conducting free pet microchipping and were able to microchip 70-80 dogs in 2019. Last February, PAWSitivity donated two microchip scanners to the CVO and also a few microchips.
Bascones said that the advantage of microchipping is that it is for a lifetime, and unlike collars, it can’t be easily removed or replaced. As a tool for responsible pet ownership, microchipping, and pet registration also helps in the implementation of laws against pet owners who negligently abandon pets, which cause harm to others.
Once a pet is implanted with a microchip, and scanned, a serial number will help trace dog owners.
“They (owners) can still be identified as far as I know. The CVO is working with UP Mindanao, with the Rabdash, they have their dashboard and details of those who have vaccinated their pets,” he said, adding that through the serial number, the City Vet could trace from its database the pet owner.
Sherelyn A, Evangelio, Project Leader of RabDash UP Mindanao, said that they are developing a rabies dashboard through the input of the data of all the pet owners and their pets that were vaccinated.
Evangelio said that microchipping is helpful in tracing vaccinated pets and keeping track of their status.
“In 2022 alone, nag vaccinate ang CVO ng around 160,000 nga pets and isa isahon na siya og input didto sa among dashboard so imagine the amount of work, if naka-microchip siya, and then ang vaccination annual na siya, ibig sabihin example if 2022 na microchip siya, by 2023 automatic nga nga mabutang sya sa dashboard. Aside nga ma monitor ang owner sa dog mas easier pud ang data keeping and data collection. (In 2022 alone, the CVO vaccinated around 160,000 pets and if all of it will be manually encoded to the dashboard, imagine the amount of work. If the dog has been implanted with microchip, and the vaccination is annual, if found on the record in 2022 that the dog has been vaccinated, by 2023 it will automatically be registered on the dashboard. Aside from that, it helps monitor the owner of the dog, it will also makes data keeping and data collection easier),” Evangelio said.
Those who are interested to have their pets implanted with microchips may bring their microchip and their pet to the CVO Office where doctors can accommodate and administer the free implantation. For further details, pet owners may visit the CVO on the 2nd Floor of the City Hall Annex Bldg., Pichon St., Davao City or call 241-1000 Local 351/349.
