Why microchip your cat?
Microchipping is by far the most effective and quickest way of identifying lost pets.
Cats roam by their nature, and a microchip increases the chances of a lost or injured cat being reunited with their owner. Similarly, if a cat has been involved in a road traffic accident, a microchip allows the relevant local authorities to inform the owner, helping to prevent further distress for those involved.
We acknowledge there would be numerous challenges to the enforcement of such a law, and the range of cats it could cover effectively, for example, the difficulty represented by feral cats. Therefore, the legislation should focus on our pet cats. We believe microchipping of owned cats would have a significant public benefit.
From 10 June 2024, pet cats in England now have to be microchipped and registered on a database by the time they are 20 weeks old. We are calling for the introduction of similar legislation to be brought into Northern Ireland.
How you can help
Members of the public can help protect cats by ensuring their own pets are microchipped, raising awareness of the benefits with friends and neighbours, and calling on policymakers to introduce compulsory cat microchipping in Northern Ireland, bringing it in line with the rest of the UK and giving lost cats the best chance of being safely reunited with their families.
