An aquiline snout, a slender and streamlined body with long legs and the tail extending like a snake, Chippiparai, the native breed of Southern Tamil Nadu, is an ace runner and hunter.
Even though their prominence faded with the advent of exotic breeds, there is a growing interest in local breeds now and the Veterinary College and Research Institute, Tirunelveli, has embarked on creating a database of the Chippiparai, which has already gained distinction as a universal donor of canine blood.
“We implanted microchips in 100 and collected blood samples from 151 dogs that attended the master health check-up and free anti-Rabies vaccination camp,” said Dr. R. Ramprabhu, Professor and Head, Veterinary Clinical Complex, Tirunelveli.
The camp in Tirunelveli was inaugurated by the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) Vice-Chancellor Dr. C. Balachandran. He also released the Hand book of Indigenous Dog Breeds of Tamil Nadu.
Microchipping is mandatory for dogs that are members of the Kennel Club of India (KCI) and the initiative of the Tirunelveli College has gained Chippiparai a status on a par with elite exotic dog breeds in the country.
Each microchip costs around ₹600 and the facility has made it easy for the owners to trace missing dogs.
“We have come across a lot of police complaints about missing dogs and claim over ownership. Now the microchip with unique identification number will help establish the ownership,” Dr. Ramprabhu said.
On Monday, Manikandan, an owner of eight Chippiparai dogs, had microchips implanted in them. K. Pandithurai said four of his dogs were microchipped. As hunting is banned, the owners use the dogs only for guarding farms and houses.
Dr. Ramprabhu said he was confident of creating a database blood for Indian breeds and would go a long way in helping dogs that require blood. The blood typing was done by Dr. G.R. Baranidharan and Dr. Tirumurugan of the TANUVAS Canine Research Centre (CRC) DBT Scheme.
“We distributed identity cards to the dog owners. The donor dogs can enjoy many privileges in our hospital. They need not pay for registration and need not wait in queues,” Dr. Ramprabhu said.
