Vygr Goa: Microchips to implant in Stray dogs under mission Rabies, Panaji

With the help of a microchip implant, Mission Rabies collaborated with the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) and PAWS to track the location and population of the city's stray dogs. To generate this database a Canadian company's GoChip pet technology is being used.

Volunteers will be able to gather details about the dog by using an app on their smartphones to scan the neck area where the microchip has been installed.

The volunteers will be able to record interactions between stray dogs and dog owners thanks to technology.

Dr. Murugan Appupillai, director, of education, at Mission Rabies, said in a statement, we will start this initiative by August. We will implant the device through surgery. We will also add a collar to identify that the dog has been implanted with a chip," he said.

"Then we will vaccinate and neuter it. This will help us keep a record of which dogs are neutered, vaccinated and their location," he added.

According to documentation by Mission Rabies, there are around 1.5 lakh dogs in Goa. 75,000–80,000 of these animals make up the state's stray population. In Panaji, there are roughly 3,000 stray dogs, while 1,000 stray dogs are found in nearby Santa Cruz and Taleigao towns.

This is Mission Rabies' second effort to carry out close monitoring of stray dogs. Mission Rabies has partnered with Edinburgh University to implement a dog-tracking system in the state's border regions. The technology uses sensors attached to trees in the surrounding forests and the collars of local dogs to determine how many dogs pass through Goa's borders. This initiative is taken to keep rabies away and reclaim Goa’s rabies-free status.

"Our target is to complete the implant on at least 3,000 dogs within the city in a month's time from August," said Appupillai.

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