Cat owners urged to take action or face £500 fine within weeks

Cat owners have been urged to take action or face a £500 fine under the roll out of new laws next month.

Under the new rules , cats must be microchipped before reaching the age of 20 weeks. The microchip serial number will need to be stored and be kept up to date in a pet microchipping database.

According to Government figures, there are over 9 million pet cats in England, with as many as 2.3 million unchipped.

Leaving cats unchipped makes it difficult to reunite them with their owner if ever lost or stolen.

The new law will be introduced on June 10. However, owners without microchipped cats will have a further 21 days to have the procedure done before penalties of £500 come into effect.

A Government call for a consultation on the matter, which ran from December 2020 to February 2021, saw 99 per cent of the over 33,000 respondents expressing support for the measure. Over 22,000 of the responses were part of a Cats Protection campaign.

The introduction of compulsory cat microchipping was a Conservative Party manifesto commitment and a Government Action Plan for Animal Welfare pledge.

Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey previously said: “Cats are treasured members of the family, and it can be devastating for owners when they are lost or stolen.

“This important step delivers on our manifesto commitment to introduce compulsory microchipping for cats and will help protect millions of cats across the country by increasing the likelihood that lost or stray pets can be reunited with their owners.”

Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said: “I am pleased that we are progressing with our requirement for all cats to be microchipped.

“By getting their cat microchipped, owners can increase the likelihood that they will be reunited with their beloved pet in the event of it going missing.”

Ms Middlemiss added that microchipping for dogs has meant dogs have been more than twice as likely to be reunited with their owners.