Microchipping of cats has taken step forward

Last year we were involved in the Cats Bill, which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) agreed to take on. In brief, this resulted in a consultation for the microchipping of cats.

The government seems to be on track for a summary of the research to be released very soon, potentially in the next couple of weeks or so, according to a statement from Defra head George Eustice MP.

Naturally, we are thrilled at the government’s commitment to this after fighting for so long for change, even in such challenging times.

For us, this legislation will save lives, as well as reunite owners with their cats and bring closure to others.

When we say save lives, we speak from the angle of our focus group and the reason we fought for this mostly in the first place.

As the UK’s only feline road traffic accident group, all too often we hear about cats ending up at vets requiring treatment following a collision, yet vets are only obliged to administer pain relief.

Some charities sometimes step in, and some vets will continue treatment using an emergency fund, but in most cases the cat pays the ultimate price, all because they did not have a microchip.

With no microchip, there is no way for people to locate an owner without extremely good luck coming the cat’s way via determined people on social media.

We have known cats to be euthanised for minor injuries because they were not microchipped, which upsets and frustrates us to the core, especially when that cat has survived a road accident and the driver did stop and do the decent thing in seeking help at a vets.

Microchips are part of responsible pet ownership and a cats only voice when found straying or injured.

Although we are extremely enthusiastic and excited about the upcoming legislation, this is only half the story for us.

The Cats Bill was for microchipping and reportable road accidents, and thankfully Defra have previously agreed to return to the reporting side once this law is in place to ensure cats are easily identifiable once reported, so there’s a lot more to come in the future for sure.

Mandy Hobbis, Carlie Power and Tiya Ivy, Cats Matter

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