Cat owners given deadline to get pets microchipped or face £500 fine – millions of Brits are affected
CAT owners risk up to a £500 fine if they don’t get their felines microchipped.
Under the rules set out in Parliament on Monday, cats must be microchipped before they reach 20 weeks.
And their owners’ contact details – like address and phone number – must be kept up-to-date on a national database.
Brits will have until June 10, 2024, to microchip their cat under the plans.
If owners are found not to have microchipped their cat by the deadline, they have 21 days to have one implanted or face the fine.
There are nine million pet cats in Britain but around 2.3 million are unchipped.
This makes it harder to identify cats if they go missing or are stolen.
But ministers and campaigners hope the new plans will overcome this.
Microchipping involves inserting a chip – usually the size of a grain of rice – under the skin of a pet.
It contains a unique serial number the pet owner needs to register on a national database.
If an animal is found, the chip can be read with a scanner and the registered keeper identified on a database so the pet can quickly be reunited with them.
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said the move will give comfort to families.
And England’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss, supported the move.
She said: “Microchipping is by far the most effective and quickest way of identifying lost pets.
“As we’ve seen with dog microchipping, those who are microchipped are more than twice as likely to be reunited with their owner.”