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Microchips may be required for dangerous pets

Merideth Call CAL05009@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

Japan is moving toward requiring owners of potentially dangerous animals, such as crocodiles and pythons, to have microchips implanted in their pets in case the animals get loose, officials said in the middle of October.

 The decision follows recent incidents in which animals such as pythons, crocodiles and giant salamanders have been found wandering frequently on highly populated city streets.

 In one uncommon case, a man lost track of his pet python after he took the animal “for a walk” in a park and the snake escaped when the man fell asleep on a bench. He was quoted by one TV station as saying he was surprised the snake disappeared because it wasn’t that kind of snake.

 The Ministry of the Environment of Japan is putting out a law that would require round microchips — 0.4 inches long and 0.08 inches in diameter — implanted under the skin of some 650 animal species, a ministry official said.

 Each microchip carries information, making it possible to trace the owner if the animal goes missing.

 Among the animals included in the proposed law, which is likely to come into effect next January, are various snakes, snapping turtles and bears.

 “There was a sense that it is good to have better management of these kinds of animals,” the official said, according to a recent online article with Yahoo.

Exotic animals, such as reptiles, have become increasingly popular pets in Japan over the last few years, largely because they are clean and quiet and usually reside in terrariums — a big plus in the nation’s cramped apartments, which often forbid ownership of more common four-footed friends.

 With escapes becoming more frequent, however, calls have risen for tighter regulation of such pets.

A few weeks ago, a woman in downtown Tokyo found a 1-meter-long python curled up on some quilts in a closet.