Yes, In May 2021 the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs have stated that microchipping of cats will be compulsory as part of it’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare, similar to Dogs. Cat owners who fail to microchip their cat can face a fine up to £500 per cat.
Despite our best efforts, it is not uncommon for cats to get lost or struggle to find their way home. Should this happen, a microchip will give them the best chance of being reunited with you. You should report your cat as missing to Pet Identity UK who will notify all vetinary surgies within a 10 mile radius of your location.
The microchip is coded with a unique number that can be read by a scanner. Microchips do not store personal data – this is kept against the unique identification number on Pet Identity UK’s database. If your cat is found and scanned, the microchip database is accessed online and the organisation that has your cat, for example the veterinary surgery, a rescue centre or the police, can use the number to find your details. You can then be contacted and your pet safely reunited with you.
Sadly, the microchip is only used as identification and does not work as a tracker? But Pet Identity UK have created a tack and trace system exclusively for both dogs and cats and were published in the Vet Times in April 2019 for their innovative dog administration veterinary record PREDICT systems. The same processes and search protocols are now used to identify all lost and stolen cats and Pet identity UK will undertake all searches with a national linked digital trace system.
Common problems with GPS tracking tags/collars is that can be removed or fall off the cat. GPS has no vet links unlike the cat microchip database, and Pet Identity UK Vet-Check data
systems can even store and locate your cats medical veterinary history in an RTA emergency.
