Business Notes PETS

"Oh, where, oh, where has my little dog gone?" That old musical question now has a modern answer. A California-based company called Infopet is selling a - computer-age tag: a microchip that is easily implanted between a pet's shoulder blades. The semiconductor carries a ten-digit code, which can be read by a scanner. When the code is punched into Infopet's computers, an animal's finder can obtain such data as the pet's license number, medical condition and, most important, the owner's phone number.

In the 1 1/2 years since Infopet began offering the service, 10,000 pets have been micro-tagged in California, Oregon, Washington and Missouri. So far, 27 animals have been returned to their owners because of the device. The microchip, its insertion and a year of registration cost $40.