Rebecca met with Cats Protection, the largest cat welfare charity, to talk about their work. They have been helping cats across the UK since 1927. They are composed of a community of volunteers, employees and partners, they have improved the lives of millions of cats and transformed the way people see and care for cats.
Their vision is a society where every cat has the best life possible because they are protected, cared for and understood. They are succeeding, in 2022 they helped 144,000 cats and kittens and rehomed 30,000.
Like Cats Protection, Government is committed to improving the welfare of cats. Rebecca supported legislation introduced in March of this year making it compulsory to microchip pet cats, delivering on the Government’s manifesto pledge.
The new rules mean cats must be implanted with a microchip before they reach the age of 20 weeks and their contact details stored and kept up to date in a pet microchipping database
Rebecca commented: “There are over nine million pet cats in England, and it is estimated that as many as 2.3 million are unchipped, making it difficult to reunite cats with their owner if they get lost or stolen. All owners must have their cat microchipped by 10 June 2024. I understand that 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. I would strongly urge all pet owners to ensure that their pet cat is microchipped.”
Microchipping has helped increase the number of lost pets reunited with their owners and Rebecca welcomes the move by many local authorities to include a requirement in street cleaning contracts to scan pets found injured on the road for a microchip. Cats Protection helped in this effort to microchip every cat and kitten, they have so far microchipped 43,000 cats.
If you would like to donate to Cats Protection or sponsor a cat, you can here https://www.cats.org.uk/donate. Alternatively, if you would like to find out more about adoption, you can here https://www.cats.org.uk/adopt-a-cat/find-a-cat
