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Using Microchips to Track Pit Bulls (Rio De
Janeiro, Brazil)
Using Microchips to Track Pit Bulls
RIO DE JANEIRO,
Brazil (AP) - September 12, 2007 - A
Brazilian city has begun implanting microchips in pit bulls in an
effort to track the dogs and punish the owners of pets involved in
attacks.
So far seven dogs have been implanted with the chip, which contains
information about the animal and its owners, said Maria do Carmo
Araujo, coordinator of the Center of Animal Control in Belo
Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais state in southeastern Brazil.
"The chips will help responsible owners to recover their dogs if
they are lost and help find irresponsible owners if the dogs are
involved in the attacks," Araujo said by telephone on Tuesday.
Some 2,500 pit bull owners have complied with a 2006 state law
requiring them to register the animals for the procedure. The city
is paying for the chips and the owners of pit bulls found without
them will be fined $440, she said.
This month authorities also plan to implant chips in Rottweilers and
Doberman pinschers in accordance with the law, Araujo said.
"We started with pit bulls because they are the animals who are most
frequently abandoned," she said. "Whenever there is an attack,
owners many abandon their pit bulls."
She said two state residents, a 29-year-old man and a months-old
baby, were killed by pit bulls this year.
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