Saturday, April 19, 2008 5:06 AM CDT

STE. GENEVIEVE — The Ste. Genevieve Sheriff’s Department  recovered a stolen canine on April 11. A full-blooded pit bull named Rosie was recovered in Ste. Genevieve after it was stolen nearly three weeks ago from a St. Louis suburb.

The Pit Bull was identified because of a microchip that was implanted just below the skin’s surface. Information obtained from the microchip led to the identification of Rosie’s owners and where the dog was from. Rosie was found by Deputy Mike Barton, who serves as the sheriff’s department animal control officer, near the Ste. Genevieve City Park.

When Barton finds a loose dog he routinely checks for microchips with the help of a special scanner.

The chip and scanner developed by the company Avid (American Veterinary Identification Devise) was donated to the department for incidents like Rosie’s.

Barton said information about the identification system is widely available on the Internet. The chip is normally implanted by a veterinarian between the shoulder blades and does not harm the pet. The microchips are fairly inexpensive at about $25 per chip. The chip does have a battery. They normally last up to 25 years.

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