Battersea Dogs and Cats Home has urged homeowners to microchip their cats, following a new report that exposed solely 2% of stray cats had been reunited with their homeowners by way of microchipping in 2022.
This statistic is indicative of a wider welfare drawback for pets throughout the UK, as three out of 5 cats delivered to the charity’s centres weren’t microchipped, in accordance with the examine.
While legal guidelines to make sure the efficient microchipping of dogs had been applied in 2016, insurance policies to guard cats in the identical approach will solely be applied later this yr.
The new rules imply that homeowners should microchip their cats over the age of 20 weeks by 10 June this yr or could also be fined as much as £500.
The guidelines kind a part of a wider Government pledge for the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, launched in 2021.
Battersea Policy Officer Jennifer Roy stated: “Unlike dogs, cats by their very nature are free-roaming and are much less prone to come to the eye of the general public, native authorities or police in the identical approach a stray canine does.
“This contributed to a delay in introducing compulsory cat microchipping.”
Before canine microchipping turned obligatory, Roy stated that solely 20% of stray dogs had been precisely microchipped, which rose to 31% by April 2017.
She stated: “We are expecting that the new cat microchipping regulations will increase the number of microchipped cats in a similar way.”
Roy stated that if these new rules are enforced successfully, they’ll improve the variety of misplaced cats which are reunited with their household, help resolving cat theft and possession disputes, and assist rehoming centres, native authorities and vets to contact their proprietor if their cat is injured or killed in a highway accident.
Sadly, Battersea have needed to rehome many cats who weren’t microchipped or whose particulars weren’t up-to-date.
One of Battersea’s rescued cats, one-year-old Kina, was present in a park by a passer-by and delivered to the charity.
Staff had suspected Kina was a home cat from her pleasant disposition and well-maintained coat.
As she didn’t have a microchip, employees couldn’t discover her homeowners however was rehomed quickly after with a brand new loving household.
Similarly, two-year-old Pebble was roaming the streets when a stranger introduced him to the centre.
Even although he was microchipped, the chip lacked particulars of his homeowners, which meant that employees couldn’t hint his household.
Battersea have had higher luck with animals that had been microchipped precisely, corresponding to two-year-old Alfie, who was introduced in after a passer-by believed he was misplaced.
The young feline was sporting a collar with an AirTag and, when Battersea discovered his microchip with up-to-date particulars about his homeowners, the employees realized that he was not even lacking in any respect.
His ‘relieved’ proprietor rushed to select him up inside the hour they usually had been each ‘happily reunited right away’.
Roy stated that the microchipping is the best approach a cat could be reunited with its household is with a collar and tag with correct particulars.
Find out extra about Battersea’s recommendation on microchipping cats here.
Featured picture credit score: Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
