Mandatory Pet Microchip Bill Heads To Governor

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- A bill requiring that cats and dogs released from California animal shelters be implanted with microchips to identify their owners is on its way to the governor.

The state Assembly voted 45-21 Thursday to approve the measure by Sen. Ted Lieu, a Torrance Democrat. It requires that owners of pets retrieved from shelters or who adopt them implant the chips.

Supporters of SB720 say it will reduce the $300 million-a-year taxpayer costs for euthanizing stray animals and will greatly increase the chances of reuniting lost pets with their owners.

Opponents say the microchips can cause medical problems and that the issue should be decided locally.

Democratic Assemblyman Ben Hueso of San Diego said a microchip helped reunite his family with a lost dog found hundreds of miles away in Fresno.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)