LETTER: Share your views on cat matters

With the new legislation coming in regarding the compulsory microchipping of cats, we were thrilled when the 'Cats Bill' was adopted by DEFRA at the last election following a wonderful campaign by MP Rehman Chishti, whom we had the please of working with.

We have continued to push the government on the issue of mandatory scanning following our campaign stemming from our co founders Mandy's cat Snowy being hit by a car and disposed of by her local council. Snowy was never scanned for a microchip nor was Mandy notified so she could have that closure owners need when having lost a beloved pet. This kicked off our campaign to get councils scanning and we have successfully got almost 60 councils around the UK to implement a scanning approach in the last three years of campaigning. Throughout the compulsory microchipping of cats legislation research, to which we have been heavily involved with at DEFRA, has now led to them opening another consultation on the issue, and we would urge people to get involved with their views.

For us, cats are family members who deserve much better than being left roadside alone, scared, in pain, or worse. When the worst does sadly happen, we feel cats should be treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve, and owners should be notified by way of the authorities scanning for a microchip. Cat owners go to the trouble of microchipping their cats so that they have a voice should they ever find themselves in trouble, and the least we deserve is to be notified if a tragedy occurs. Some people search the streets for weeks/months searching for a missing pet in vain, when all it would take is for someone to scan their microchip and have the decency to give the owners that closure they need, as well as the opportunity to lay their cat to rest and say goodbye properly.

For more information about CatsMatter see: www.catsmatter.org/

The CatsMatter team

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