The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the civic administrative body responsible for the governance of Bengaluru city, has launched an experimental project aimed at improving the tracking and management of street dogs in the city’s Mattikere and Malleswaram areas. The pilot program, which began on Saturday, involves implanting microchips in stray dogs, marking a shift toward using technology to address the challenges in managing the dog population in the Karnataka capital, The Indian Express reported.

This comes after several recent incidents in the tech hub wherein residents have been attacked and killed by stray dogs.

Spearheaded by Suralkar Vikas Kishore, Special Commissioner for Health and Animal Husbandry at the BBMP, the initiative is being conducted in partnership with local firm BIZ ORBIT, the report noted. If the pilot proves successful, the BBMP plans to extend the microchipping effort citywide.

The microchips, which are about the size of a grain of rice, will be implanted under the dogs’ skin. They will store crucial data, including each dog’s location, vaccination details, and sterilization history, the publication said. This permanent record will help authorities keep track of the animals more efficiently, resolving issues that arise from the current system of marking vaccinated dogs with temporary colored identifiers that fade quickly.

The new system aims to prevent duplicate vaccinations, a frequent issue under the existing color-coding method, by providing each dog with a unique, globally recognized identifier. Officials assure that the microchips are designed to last a lifetime without causing harm to the animals, the report added.

A BBMP spokesperson spoke to reporters and highlighted that this initiative could significantly improve street dog management, reduce unnecessary vaccinations, and ultimately benefit both public health and animal welfare by ensuring more accurate data tracking.