Chip in to control pets

MICROCHIPPING pets will be mandatory in less than two months – and Greater Dandenong Council is making sure residents can do it on the cheap.
There’s only one catch – your dog or cat must be registered with the council.
The City of Greater Dandenong will hold a microchipping day on Sunday, 15 April in the Dandenong Council Offices car park from 10am to 2pm.
Pets can be microchipped at the special discounted rate of $20 and may also attract significant discounts in registration fees, which can be paid at Dandenong’s Customer Service Centre on the day. Council regulatory services manager Peter Shelton said the chance of residents suffering the loss of a pet could be significantly decreased with registration and proper identification.
“Because of an increase in microchipping and the wearing of registration tags, over 70 per cent of dogs are now reunited with their owners,” he said. “Unfortunately the number of cats returned to owners is still very low because owners are not registering and microchipping cats at the same rate as dogs.”
In February last year Star revealed how a microchip returned a beloved pooch to its family almost six months after it went missing.
Maltese-ShihTzu Adam went missing from his Dandenong North family and was picked up by a Greater Dandenong animal control officer months later.Adam could have wound up at the pound, but his microchip contained crucial details including address and contact information of his owner – and Adam was returned home.