Cat owners in England must microchip their pets by June 10 or risk a hefty £500 fine. The new government regulation says all cats must be microchipped and registered on an approved database by the time they are 20 weeks old.
As someone who has had to deal with an abandoned animal that wasn’t sufficently microchipped, I have my doubts about this policy.
For those that aren’t aware, we had to take in a kitten and a cat that living under a shed, heavily pregnant, left without food or drink in one of the worst heatwaves in decades. It wasn’t spayed, sufficently vaccinated, and needed medical treatment.
Being new to the Hull neighbour we didn’t know where to turn. We reached out to neighbours, we visited homes where we thought it might have lived, and posted on local community groups. We spoke to animal shelters and charities who turned us away, saying they were full, and ended up taking them to a vet.
Now the cat did have a microchip, but because it had travelled from overseas, there was nothing the vets could do to trace the owner. They too could only appeal to the public to come forward. As well as being malnourished and way too thin, we were told the cat was evidently due to pop with more kittens at any point, and it should be kept in.
Having never looked after a pregnant cat before it was quite an ask, but we wanted to do what was best for the animal. The cat became known as ‘Maggie’ to us, and for weeks she went backwards and forwards for medication and to check her health. No owner ever came forward, and nobody responded to our appeal to find the owner. We were told by the vets to register it as our own and to update the microchip.
Six weeks later Maggie did give birth – to four healthy kittens. We found all but one a loving home with friends and family, including the one found under a shed, and adopted the final kitten, Phoebe, ourselves. Maggie’s health problems didn’t end there. She needed tests and medical treatment to deal with stress, no doubt partly down to being left outside to fend for herself. The bills clocked up totalled more than £1,000, but we did it out of love for the animal, who we learned had probably had repeated pregnancies in just two years of her life.
After Maggie had started to get healthier – she was back to a normal weight – we were able to get her vaccinated and spayed. Six months after being found under a shed her life was starting to seem normal again.
But that was until we received a note through our door telling us a neighbour who had been out of the country for a number of months was back and was looking to take the cat and kitten back. With a variety of sob stories, she explained she couldn’t cope without the cat. She arrived at our door with pictures of the cat from before the summer, and explained she’d been back to her native Latvia, and in that time lost up to six cats. She couldn’t explain why she hadn’t gone looking for them, why she hadn’t put up posters, or even turned to her neighbours a few doors down. When we told her we were keen to spay her, she delivered some anti-vaccination rant, saying it wasn’t healthy for a young cat.
Maggie took one look at the return of the supposed owner, and went upstairs to sleep, while the woman and granddaughter played with the new-born kitten instead.
We were baffled, but explained as she couldn’t afford to keep medicating her and as we now had her registered with us, it was best she stayed with us and she could visit. She left on good terms, with us recommending her some courses for integrating in our city. Or so we thought.
Many weeks passed, until one day, Maggie never returned from her afternoon wander around the garden. She was due her medication and her night-time snuggles with the kitten. We searched everywhere for the cat, finding it quite out of character.
Eventually we received a phone call. It was the neighbour. She told us we had been a danger to the animal and we wouldn’t see her again. She laughed as we asked if she had the right medication. Snatched without a goodbye, and back in the arms of those who had abandoned her at her time of need.
This is where it started to get particularly messy.
We spoke to the RSPCA who wouldn’t intervene, even on grounds of welfare. They recommended speaking with the police, on account that it was essentially theft. Humberside Police said we had stolen their cat and it couldn’t possibly be considered stolen. After finding their response dissatisfactory, they eventually turned up, and said we had now been accused of stealing the cats to make money from kittens, and they believed the owner had been putting posters up everywhere to find it. They said it was for a court to decide who should own the animal. They weren’t interested in reading the paper trail proving all the attempts we had done to find its owners, or to make it legally ours.
The RSPCA eventually did try to do a welfare check on the cat, but was told by the owner she wasn’t around. We eventually learned it had been moved to another house to bypass an inspector. The RSPCA said it would go against GDPR to disclose any more detail of what happened to Maggie, but that they believed it was with a ‘loving family’ and we had done the right thing to take it in and look after it. But they said we should have reported it as an abandoned animal in the summer it happened – to which I pointed out I had. Scoffing, they said that’s the trouble with their call centres. I said it will happen again – and they said to simply ring back if it does.
Shortly after the following summer the cat had gone “missing” again, according to the owner’s Facebook posts. Weeks later we learned Maggie had been replaced by another cat from overseas, that they had also lost, unchipped and never having visited a vets either. This woman had learned nothing.
Moreover, the RSPCA showed no interest in finding out what has happened to Maggie, or how the family could simply replace an animal they claimed to care so much about. There has been no repercussions for this person, we have been left heartbroken without Maggie, and a credit card bill we’re still paying off.
We have searched the internet for the cat, and put up posters around most of HU5. They still remain up. We don’t know if the animal is truly missing, if they gave her up, or if it’s another fantasy the person involved dreamt up. It troubles me most days that we allowed her back in the hands of those who didn’t give her the love she needs, or worse still, that she is living under a shed again.
We feel like it was spite to take the abandoned cat back, and then replace it with another. The only solice I take is that this cat is registered to us, and anyone with an ounce of sense will get it scanned if she is found looking worse for wear.
This is why I don’t believe the policing of microchips will work.
The same people who abandon animals won’t face any consequences for not microchipping them, and someone will pick up the bill for it.
As for the law? We were told any court battle could cost above £10,000 and that the backlog in the courts means it could take years.
Effectively it means at any point these people can take an abandoned animal back – even if they’ve left the country when they need help the most.
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