Fantastic idea, one of my cats went missing and was found via its Mmicrochip. All my animals are microchipped. I also think that the vet and every animal charity should check for a microchip first before anything.
Yes it should be made law
We have 39 cats and 2 dogs all chipped - 2 of the cats are missing but we live in hope that this little thing may return them to us one day - not knowing is worse than knowing
Microchipping is not harmful to an animal and provides the necessary help in ensuring that it will be reunited with its owner. So much misery at losing a pet could be so simply solved in so many cases.
We have just moved house and I had my cat chipped (£10 offer for June) as a precaution as I understand moving house is the most common time for cats to go missing. Vets offer the chipping service so should therefore scan any unknown animals. Perhaps if the price was lowered then more people would get it done, as it can be quite expensive. If it was to be made law then the cost would have to be absorbed as I don't believe you should make people do something AND pay for it, the way to encourage microchipping is to make it more accessable so make it cheaper?
I agree with the petition. I would also suggest strongly that there be a standardization of the equipment, chips and scanners. The price of implanting a chip in many animals should cover the cost of a scanner.
When you take on a pet, YOU take on responsibility for that
animals, welfare and security. I don't think it should be LAW for anyone
else to share that responsibility.
YOU want the animal, YOU look after it. If you get assistance from others
(vets, RSPCA, etc..), be grateful. Don't expect it as a RIGHT.
I absolutely agree with the above statement
It should be made law!
I don't think it should, microchipping is expensive and some pet owners don't have the money to pay for that sort of medical procedure.
Quite agree. I thought it was standard procedure for an animal to be checked and am digusted this is not the case. Our young cat is about to be chipped. . Good luck.
I agree that micro chipping should be made law. And all
vets should scan a new pet when they are brought into the their surgery
regardless of what the owner says. By having our pets micro chipped, we
ARE taking responsibility for them, but anyone with a cat will know that
you can't train them as you can a dog, and that they have a will of their
own to wander, and usually come back at feeding time.
I strongly urge the BVA to & all other related organisations to fully support the above proposal. As an owner of a missing micro-chipped cat I know only too well the upset & heartache of unsuccessful hours of searching. Should my cat be presented to a vet as new acquisition/rescued/rehomed/gifted I would certainly expect a vet to scan as a matter of routine. I've done my best with innoculations, collar, microchipping, good diet & TLC, I expect no less from a vet.
If my animal goes missing i'd like to think that every vet and rescue shelter would check for a microchip, so that i could be reunited with my pet.
There are no drawbacks to this proposal. I am astounded that vets may not be scanning unknown animals, while still being happy to insert chips
I am a qualified microchip implanter and run a pet sitting business. I carry my microchip scanner with me at all times just incase I come across possible strays or RTA's. I think it's vitally important that all unknown animals should be scanned and not just on the point where the microchip has been placed incase it has moved.
Having lost a cat yesterday, (we found him at 4.15am this morning) I can truly understand the heartbreak of losing a pet. My cat is the sort who could well have been taken - my only hope of being reunited was that he'd be scanned at some point - if we do not even have this reassurance then microchips are almost worthless and people can take another persons much loved cat, causing utter misery to the whole family who will never know what became of their pet.
I would hope that if I became detached from my pet, that he would be scanned immediately when coming into the hands of a vet.
Involved in animal rescue, can't bear finding cats that aren't chipped (dead or alive) as you have no way of finding owners, with so many cats needing homes anyway, we need to be able to reunite all the families that we can, it would make our lives a lot easier & in the event of a cat being found dead, the owners would then have closure, rather than wondering 'what happened to little Thomas' for the rest of their lives.
My cat Nero, a black forest cat, was missing last year. He was microchipped and have a EU passport. I was really upset in finding out that the council of Hammersmith and Fulham (where I live) and Kensington and Chelsea (neigbouring) , don't have facility to read microchips of found cats (either dead or alive). Other councils in London do and they contact the owner even if the animal is found dead. Also, having asked to many vets in the area whether they had seen my cat in their surgery I was confronted several times with the reality that some vets, although they had not seen a cat before, don't scan the cat for a microchip. Upon asking for the reasons they answered that they assume that if someone brings a cat to them it means either that is theirs or that they care and therefore they don't want to upset the 'owner' by checking for a microchip. This of course does not leave any change for the right owner to be reunited with their cat.
Making micro-chipping law would save so much unnecessary heartache when pets go missing - I know from personal experience.
I think all cats/ dogs should be scanned when on trips to
vets etc then animal control would be so much better, at the moment too
many missing, stolen and abused pets. Not enough help out there to help
responsible pet owners. Also people who abuse pets could be held
responsible like they should be.
It’s a shame because the Councils don’t even have to report
dead animals on any systems which I think they should and the public
should have access to it because even though it is upsetting to hear that
your pet has died it would still put a lot of peoples minds at rest
through knowing what has happened to their pet, instead of going through
the long and painful process of looking for their pet.
I think a form of registration should be made, to make it law that all pet owners should have their animals microchipped. As like cars that if the animal was to be passed on that the previous owners need to sign a form and send it away and the new owners get a registration document. This I think would stop animal thieves and dumping of animals.
So should councils
I do hope if my little cat is taken to a vet it will be to a responsible one who scans for a chip. I realise if she's been stolen it may be some time before a vet sees her - indeed, anyone who steals a cat is not a responsible person anyway, in my view. But I still hope, and I know it's early days.
I am amazed that scanning an animal is not automatic how totally unprofessional and lax not to check for a microchip.
All vets and councils should check for microchips - its
their moral duty to do so
What's the point? My brothers kitten was micro-chipped. They had her for 6 months when she went missing. She was never returned. Which either means the vets haven't checked the kitten or haven't checked with the owner to see if the kitten was missing or sold!
As I have a cat currently missing, I have a lot to say on the subject. I have spoken to a number of veterinary surgeries who have been sent posters of our missing cat. They have made it quite clear that if Jensen was brought in by another owner and registered they would not necessarily check for a chip. This is not only appalling but defeats the purpose of the chip altogether. They feel it would breach the rights of the person who currently possess the cat. What about my rights? or the fact that I paid for the chip, have a receipt for the chip and can therefore prove that a theft has taken place? Jensen belongs to me and it seems as though regardless - possession is 9/10ths of the law?? why microchip – if they don't back it up. make it law, make them check for chips! Jensen is wanted and Jensen is owned. we chipped him for that purpose - it doesn't work if they don't check. That was really the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my feelings about this. I was more than mad when speaking to these flippant surgeries. They appeared to protect whoever brought a animal in. All I kept saying was jensen is NOT a stray nor missing he is owned and the chip proves it. If someone brings you a fully grown cat and says I brought it or found it - fine, but at least swipe it. It costs nothing. The vet simply replied - we couldn't give you the information nor hold the cat in our possession. Then what good is the chip anyway? Simply to let me know yes someone has him and he is here but you can't have him?? I was more than pissed off and so upset. It's 10 weeks on Thursday and the heartache never goes away. I'm devastated. Peaceful sleep is now a past novelty. However, I do still have a glimmer in my head that he will come home, or be handed in. I just struggle to see it on most days.
I also think this should be essential. Chipping is an important issue and if someone has taken the time to chip their cat the vets should check. They make the money from inserting them they should take the time to monitor also.
Yes, I agree, I also believe Vets and rescues should always scan any animal brought in by any client, a lot of 'lost' animals are taken in by caring people who advertise the animal and if they get no response because it could have traveled 50 miles, then they keep the animal and don't even think that the animal could be chipped. Some animals are stolen and sold on to people who don't know that the animal is stolen. So yes this is something that must be a necessity for all vets and rescues to do.
Microchipping should be made law.
PLEASE make this a legal requirement!
As someone who helps locally to find missing cats, the ignorance about microchipping and the lack of proper checking or even equipment in the case of councils is a major concern which only serves to create more heartache for pet owners.
Microchips must be scanned by all councils
Please, please make the practice of scanning for microchips law. My beloved cat is chipped and his collar says so. Should the worst befall him I would at least know what had happened, I couldn't bear to never know and never hear.
At last we have an excellent way to safe guard our cats from being lost. It was very painful for me when my adored cat was run over and killed. His collar had been lost while he was out that day unknown to me so noone knew i just lived round the corner. If it wasn't for the microchip i would not have known about my boy and he would of been another missing cat. Although it could never bring my boy back, the microchip was the only way the vets could trace me.
Vets should be encouraged to scan all new-to-them animals for a microchip. Councils should buy scanners to enable them to scan any animals found dead and handed in/picked up.
i have lost my cat and just for peice of mind it would be nice to know that all unknown cats picked up/ rta's/ etc should be scanned
YES YES YES! Without doubt. If it is done with dogs so should it be with cats.
Your comments :I strongly support the advocation of microchipping and
believe that the animal welfare bill should include mandatory
microchipping of domestic cats and dogs.
Please, please, please, this needs to be done as standard, thankyou
Most Veterinary practices seem keen enough to microchip pets for the revenue it brings in I would be very dissapointed if I were to find my vets not checking for microchips in stray pets brought in.
recently lost a cat to a RTA. the boys that found him called the RSPCA to ask for advice. the RSPCA said "dispose of him" and didn't say "take him to the vet to check for his microchip" can you please
start a campaign to make the RSPCA a tad more aware of what they advocate pet-owners should do??!
We took in a stray last year, she had a collar on but no tag and no chip. Had she have been chipped she could have been reunited with her owners. We did the usual phoning around and putting posters up...to no avail. We decided to keep her in the end and now she's got a happy home but it could have been a different story for her if we weren't able to rehome her.
It should be made law - a cat is like another member of the family, and it is so heartbreaking if your cat goes missing never to return. someone somewhere may know what happened to the cat, or it may have been brought into a cattery / vets somewhere - they should scan and check who the cat belongs to. Also... if you know who the cat belongs to - they can be homed with their rightful family instead of being put into a cattery to be re-homed.
i think it should be made a law to have all cats microchipped, then mabe we would have less strays
BY LAW EVERY ANIMAL SHOULD BE MICROCHIPPED AND ALL VETS SHOULD SCAN NEW PATIENTS. THIS WOULD SAVE A LOT OF HEARTACHE. ALSO ANY CAT AND DOG HIT BY A CAR SHOULD BE TAKEN TO A LOCAL VETS TO CHECK FOR A CHIP. AND ALL COUNTY COUNCIL CLEANSING DEPARTMENTS SHOULD SCAN ANY ANIMAL THEY PICK UP THAT HAS BEEN KILLED IN A RTA.
If it was made law then those people who harm animals would be identified and it will help reunite pets with their owners
I understand that both the sspca and cat protection microchip all cats prior to rehoming which is a fabulous idea.
I'd like to hope that if my cat ever got out and got into some sort of trouble that he would be scanned and I could be notified. I see so many lost and found cats in the local paper, local websites etc and I do wonder if it is automatic for all found cats to be scanned for a chip, especially ones that don't survive.
I have microchipped my cat even though he is an indoor cat because you can never be 100% sure, however careful you might be.
Microchipping is vital for helping reunite pets with their owners.
The agony of a missing pet is bad enough but to think that some councils / vets do not scan for chips makes the though so more distressing. it only takes them 30 seconds to reunite a pet with its owner. even if its good or bad news, they need to know.
There would not be so much of a stray/lost problem for cats if they were all chipped.....ALL SCANNED!
MY BEAUTIFUL GIRL TOFFEE WAS A VICTIM OF AN RTA AT THE BEGINNING OF JUNE AND HAD TO BE PTS, IF SHE HADNT BEEN CHIPPED I MAY NEVER HAVE KNOWN WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HER AS SHE WAS FOUND BY THE RSPCA AND TAKEN TO A LOCAL VET WHO ROUTINELY SCAN ALL ADMISSIONS TO THEIR HOSPITAL, I FEEL IT IS IMPERATIVE TO GET THIS ACROSS THAT ALL ANIMALS SHOULD BE CHIPPED AND ALL ANIMAL ESTABLISHMENTS SHOULD BE SCANNING.
When my cat went missing I was very disappointed to find out just how few places routinely scan animals. That was the whole point of me having my cat chipped-if she went astray!!!
Also the process of scanning animals found by councils or rescue organisations (and taking the necessary steps to contact the owner) should be compulsory.
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