Every cat in Britain could be microchipped under new animal welfare measures to be announced at Conservative Party conference
- Eleven million felines across the country could get chips containing owner info
- Experts claim it will make returning missing pets easier when they disappear
- Plan among many animal welfare reforms to be announced by Conservatives
All Britain’s 11million cats would have to be microchipped under Government plans.
The chips, containing the owner’s name and address, will help ensure missing pets are returned to their homes.
The plan is one of a range of animal welfare measures to be put forward at the Conservative Party conference today.
A ban on keeping monkeys as pets and stopping live exports of farm animals for slaughter are also on the cards.
Hunters will be banned from importing endangered animals shot overseas – a measure promoted by Boris Johnson’s girlfriend, Carrie Symonds.
All Britain’s 11million cats would have to be microchipped under Government plans
The charity Cats Protection says around eight in ten strays taken in its adoption centres are not microchipped.
Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers said: ‘The measures we are announcing will protect our animals in our homes, in agriculture, and in the wild.’
David Bowles of the RSPCA said mandatory microchipping was a positive step, even if enforcement could be difficult.
He added: ‘It is vitally important in ensuring that if anything happens to them, if they are lost or stolen, or hit by a car, then they can be returned home.’
On the endangered animals ban, the RSPCA said: ‘We welcome this move to banning the import and export of animals hunted as ‘trophies’ – we believe the killing of an animal purely as a hunting trophy cannot be classed as a sport.
‘Recent public outcry over trophy hunting shows us there is no place for this in today’s society.’
Larry the cat lays on the steps of No10 Downing Street, where plans to microchip his 11 million fellow British felines was thought up
