Beijing plans to ID chip city's pooches

BEIJING - Guo Zixin clearly remembers the heartbreak she felt when her pet poodle went missing four years ago.

"I couldn't stop thinking about where Maomao had gone," said the 25-year-old postgraduate student.

"Was she stolen? Was she on the streets? Was she being taken care of? Was she suffering? I had all these questions in my mind."

The incident left such an impression that she now fears the same could happen to her new four-legged companion, a husky called Bojue.

From next year, however, Gao's concerns, and those of many other pet owners, may be eased if a free animal identification program is rolled out across the capital.

Deputies to the Beijing municipal people's congress are now mulling a proposal to expand a pilot project that will see all registered dogs fitted with ID chips.