What a wonder a microchip is!
I met Weetabix recently, and his owners explained how they adopted him.
Years before they had noticed him all skinny and dishevelled. He looked lost and unwanted,
so they had started leaving some food out for him.
As time passed he gained weight and eventually moved in. They checked with all the
neighbours, but no-one knew who he belonged to. They hadn’t set out to acquire a cat, but
during the pandemic they began to feel like he was part of the family.
Eventually they realised that he had effectively adopted them, and they loved him so much
they felt he should be getting vaccinations and so on.
On arrival we decided to chip him.
Imagine my horror when the pre-chipping scan beeped to announce it had found a chip.
I was forced to counsel his new loving family that at some time in his former life he had been
loved enough for a family to want to get him chipped already. And that, if that family still
wanted him, his new owners would have to give him up to them.
Luckily, within a short time we were on the phone to his previous owners.
Their story was extraordinary.
They had reported him missing over six years before, and given up all hope of ever seeing
him again.
Meanwhile they had moved house, and adopted a dog.
They were absolutely thrilled to know that their former friend was safe and loved, and
proposed that he should stay exactly where he was, giving up their claim to his love.
So all was well.
If you own a cat, you should know that under new English legislation, it will become a legal
requirement for cat owners to microchip their cats before 20 weeks of age and to ensure
their contact details are stored and kept up to date in a pet microchipping database.
You will have until 10 June 2024 to microchip your cats. Owners found not to have
microchipped their cat will have 21 days to get one implanted or may face a fine of up to
£500.
