Charity unable to reunite 75% of lost cats and dogs

On 10 June, owners have a legal requirement to microchip their cats.

An animal charity has urged people to microchip their pets after it was unable to reunite nearly 75% of stray cats and dogs it rescued in the past 12 months.

Woodgreen, based in Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, said it was only able to reunite 135 of the 551 pets it took in over the last year, due to a lack of a microchip or out of date details.

The plea was issued ahead of the 10 June, when it becomes a legal requirement to microchip cats.

It is already a requirement to microchip dogs.

The charity said it was unable to reunite 79% of the cats that came through its doors and 40% of dogs.

Dr Fiona Cooke, head of specialist services at Woodgreen, said: “A microchip is the best way to ensure you get your pet back if they go missing.

"It’s heartbreaking knowing there are so many people searching for missing pets, when in so many cases they could be easily reunited if that pet had an up-to-date microchip.

"For almost all of the pets we reunite with their owners, it is down to their microchip being up to date, if not, it’s much trickier to track people down, unless they get in touch with us."