The RSPCA has today invited the UK Government’s statement on mandatory microchipping for owned cats in England.
Under the strategies, verified today, it is to end up being a legal requirement for cat owners to microchip their cats prior to 20 weeks of age and to guarantee their contact information are saved and maintained to date in an animal microchipping database.
Under the brand-new legislation, cat owners will have till 10 June 2024 to microchip their cats. Owners discovered not to have actually microchipped their cat will have 21 days to get one implanted or might deal with a fine of as much as £500.
The RSPCA is confident that along with increasing the variety of lost or hurt cats reunited with their owners, the brand-new law will likewise help to take on typical well-being concerns for cats, consisting of desertions.
David Bowles, head of projects and public affairs at the RSPCA, said:
We are happy to see the UK Government providing on their promise to generate mandatory microchipping for owned cats in England.
Microchipping is a definitely important part of being an accountable family pet owner. This brand-new law implies that lost cats can be quickly recognized and reunited with their owners, instead of being handed to rehoming charities that are dealing with overruning waiting lists.
Microchipping dogs has actually been compulsory for several years, so to lastly see the very same law and defenses being used to cats is a substantial advance for feline well-being.
We have actually seen countless stories of non-microchipped cats that have actually been struck by a car or strayed who never ever get reunited with their owner, along with the happy stories where cats have actually been reunited with their owners by our devoted RSPCA officers thanks to this small chip. We are confident that now we will see more happy stories than sad ones.
There are 11 million owned cats in the UK and it is approximated that over a quarter of that population is not microchipped. In 2020, just around 500 cats, out of the more than 3,000 showing up in the RSPCA centres were formerly microchipped – which is simply 15%.
David included:
Microchipping your cat implies that must they be lost, or hurt they can quickly be gone back to you. It is a really simple and pain-free treatment which includes a small microchip being rapidly and just placed under the animal’s skin and this then offers the family pet its own special code.
The microchip can be scanned and matched to the owner’s contact information which are kept in a database. We think the optimal time to microchip a cat is when they are neutered as a kitten at around 4 months old and under anaesthetic.
We have actually seen the success with mandatory dog microchipping which has actually considerably minimized the variety of roaming dogs and are confident that cat microchipping might have a comparable favorable effect on lost and abandoned cats. This is naturally excellent news for cats in England, however we’re likewise hoping the Welsh Government will act and present mandatory microchipping for cats in Wales too.
If an owner moves house or modifications their phone number they need to likewise make certain that they inform the database they are signed up with so that they have current contact information. If the info on that database is old and obsolete then the chip is ineffective. Telling your veterinarian does not immediately update the information on the database however this is something you can do yourself online.
Microchipping will not be mandatory for free-living cats that deal with little or no human interaction or reliance, such as farm, feral or neighborhood cats.
More info about cat microchipping can be discovered on the RSPCA website.
