All pet cats will have to be microchipped by 2023 under new laws aimed at reuniting lost and stolen animals with their owners.
Refusal by owners to get a chip would be a criminal offence, with fines of up to £500, the Government said yesterday.
Around 2.8million of the UK’s 10.8million pet cats are estimated to be unchipped, making it difficult to reunite them with their owners if they get lost or stolen.
Cat theft is increasing – up 12 per cent in 2020 on the previous year, according to police figures.
The thieves target Pedigree cats to breed or sell if they are found neutered. According to Pet Theft Awareness, the most popular breeds of stolen pets include Siamese and Bengals as well as British shorthairs and Maine Coons.
Around 2.8million of the UK’s 10.8million pet cats are estimated to be unchipped, making it difficult to reunite them with their owners if they get lost or stolen
New rules for cats will make them more compatible with microchips in dogs. A microchip is required for 90% of dogs.
Before they turn 20 weeks old, microchips are required for kittens.
Owners found not to have microchipped their cat will have 21 days to have one implanted or may face a fine of up to £500.
Officials stated that the measure was supported by around 99% of those who responded to a Government survey.
Eight out of ten stray cats coming into the Cats Protection charity’s centres are not microchipped.
Implants are painless. It involves inserting a small chip – the size of a rice grain – with a unique serial number under a cat’s skin and costs £15 to £30.
A scanner can read this number and compare it with a database of microchips to quickly reunite missing pets with their owners. The database may charge additional fees for cat owners who fail to maintain current address information.
New rules for cats will make them more compatible with microchips in dogs. A microchip is required for 90% of dogs.
Animal welfare minister Lord Goldsmith said: ‘Cats are much-loved parts of our families and making sure that they’re microchipped is the best possible way of making sure that you are reunited with them if they are ever lost or stolen.
‘These new rules will help protect millions of cats across the country and will be brought in alongside a range of other protections we are introducing under our action plan for animal welfare.’
Jacqui Cuff, head of advocacy and government relations at Cats Protection, said: ‘As the country’s leading cat charity, we have been at the forefront of the campaign for compulsory microchipping of pet cats.
‘Every day, we see how important microchipping is for cats and for the people who love them – whether it’s reuniting a lost cat with their owner, identifying an injured cat, or helping to ensure an owner can be informed in the sad event that their cat has been hit and killed by a car.
‘Microchipping is by far the most effective and quickest way of identifying lost cats and can help ease the pressure on rescue charities like Cats Protection.
‘Without a microchip, a lost cat will most likely end up being rehomed as there is often no trace of their original owner.’