The Compulsory Microchipping of Cats It's been a busy Spring for us here at CatsMatter. We have been involved in a few projects as we await finalisation of the microchipping legislation. The Microchipping of Cats (England) Regulations will come into force this year, although national and international events over the last couple of years have naturally resulted in a delay. Also, a Pet Theft Taskforce was set up in response to the rise in pet thefts during the pandemic and, given they concluded very similar issues as what we and other organisations had been highlighting throughout the microchip research, DEFRA opened another consultation to seeks views on proposed improvements to the microchipping database system here. This has since closed and we await DEFRA to publish the results. Thank you to all our supporters who had their say and will help shape the future legislation. Rather than rush the legislation through, DEFRA have really taken time to get this right so the system is as effective as it can be, and we believe it should be worth the wait. The range of issues they aimed to tackle in this new consultation included; * The keeping up to date of details on the microchips. * The transferring of keepership records and duplicate record issues. * A single point of access to be created to allow authorised persons to swiftly access owners details of missing cats and dogs. * Rescue back up on microchips. * Breeder traceability * Strengthening current conditions for compliant databases. We have been in touch with the team at DEFRA and details of their intentions on scanning will follow upon completion of the new consultation. Given the delay, all focus is on the microchipping legislation currently. We have also certainly not forgotten about the devolved nations either! We have been pushing each of the devolved nations since we began working with DEFRA on the microchipping legislation in 2019. Now, thanks to progress in England, the devolved nations are closer than ever to potentially following suit and introducing mandatory microchipping themselves. You can find out all the details of where each nation is currently at HERE on our blog. We also have petitions currently live in both Wales and Scotland to help pile the pressure on. Both petitions end in just a few weeks, with the Scotland one only being open for 4 weeks. You can add your signature in support below. Sign our Wales petition here. Sign our Scotland petition here. One last note on microchipping, June is National Microchipping Month. You will hear it year round from us, but June is always a great opportunity for organisations to remind cat and dog owners about the importance of having pets microchipped. Each year rescues tend to offer discounted microchipping, or even free in some cases, as an incentive for people to chip their pets. Keep your eyes peeled for local offers! |
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Cats on Canals Many of you will have spotted our current campaign on social media and in many news articles this last month. On rare occasion we hear about cats being hit by bikes, but this usually tends to happen on roads or paths. However, in the last few months we have been contacted by numerous people living on boats to tell their story of their cat either being hit by a cyclist, or attacked by a dog. With growing evidence of a sharp rise in incidents, we agreed to use our platform to help raise awareness of each issue. Statistics show a rise in both boat ownership and in canal side properties. During the pandemic pet ownership also rose significantly, and Canal River Trust noted an increase in foot traffic using the waterways. We believe this combination of factors have caused incidents to rise as more people are now using canals. All incidents we have heard of were preventable and heart breaking, but we were particularly sad to hear about Rora. She was simply walking by her moored boat when she was hit by a cyclist. Her owner Anna needed some time to come to terms with her loss, but has now bravely spoke out about Rora's incident in hope of raising awareness for other boat cats out there. Anna has been helping us speak to as many journalists as possible ahead of the summer months to promote the safe and responsible use of our waterways. You can read some of the articles below, and do keep an eye out for her feature in an upcoming issue of Your Cat Magazine. You can read Rora's story here. Rora in the Islington Tribune. Rora in the Shropshire Star. Along with incidents involving bikes, we have seen a rise in people contact us about their cats, or their friends cats, being attacked by dogs off the lead on canals. Not only have some cats been attacked as they explored nearby, some have been attacked by dogs that had jumped on-board their boat and attacked them in their own beds. Although the media have mostly focused on cycling incidents, likely due to our link with vehicle incidents, we have also been busy working on raising awareness in any way we can about dog attacks on boat cats too. One of the people we have been speaking to is Nicola. Her cats Jubbly, Molly and Mia have each been attacked by dogs in their own home, and Nicola has been helping raise awareness by sharing her story. We have also spoken to our friends over at the Cats Protection HQ, and they will be raising this issue in Parliament at a scheduled cross party meeting. Dog attacks generally have been high on the agenda for the cross party group, and Cats Protection will be raising incidents on towpaths on our behalf. Read Nicola's story on Staffordshire Live here. After much research, our latest blog explains the type of incidents that have been occurring, what the local authorities are doing about it, what dog owners can do to help, as well as what boaters and the general public can do to report incidents. |
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Many of you will sadly know the pain of losing a furry family member. Many will also have been blessed with having a support base around them in the form of family or friends, and/or be in a position to use modern technology to seek out help, advice and support online. Imagine living alone and having few or no friends or family to speak to, or being young and feeling confused and scared. Some vulnerable adults might also find expressing their feelings much harder, or even impossible. You might remember Mo's Legacy Laws for Paws from our previous newsletter. After speaking to Founder Jillian, we decided between ourselves that more information should be available to help people who perhaps don't have the support network many of us are blessed with, or those who do not have access to modern technology or perhaps find expressing their grief particularly challenging. This came about after Jillian's team helped reunite an 80 year old man with his missing deceased feline companion against the odds. Our blog intends to highlight how some vulnerable people might need additional support when dealing with grief, and includes links to help caregivers. |
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Give Animals a BRAKE Campaign - Bridging Rainbows! We have had the absolute pleasure of speaking to the Bridging Rainbows duo, and are firmly behind their global campaign to help save animals from road accidents. Bridging Rainbows are a mother (geo-scientist) and daughter (nutritionist) team that have made it their mission tend to hundreds of stray animals in the city of Baroda, Gujarat in India For the past 17 years, their care has included daily feeding, sterilisation, vaccination against rabies, and the lifelong medical needs of the street animals. The duo have now started the ‘Give Animals A Brake’ campaign, which is a global traffic awareness campaign consisting of things such as an online petition. This is all aimed at reducing animal road accidents and mishaps through compassion, sensitization, awareness and action. Also, they are keen to raise awareness of mental health and show people that it is OK to grieve for an animal and nothing to be ashamed of. They are holding support group meetings fortnightly to encourage people to open up about the most disfranchised type of grief and for them to know they are not alone. You can find out more about the virtual meetings, and find out how to take part if you wish, HERE. You can also find out more about Bridging Rainbows, including all their links to their social media pages so you can stay up to date on their campaign, on our blog here. |
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We have 4 brand new car window stickers in store now! Don't forget, our wonderful subscribers receive free postage on all orders. To receive your exclusive discount, just pop ''postfree'' in the the 'enter a promo code' box at checkout to automatically receive free postage :-) |
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