All cats in UK will have to be microchipped under new rules
The government is set to introduce new rules saying that all pet cats in the UK must be microchipped by the time they are 20 weeks old - the equivalent of five months.
It will mean lost or stray pet cats are more likely to be reunited with their owners and returned home safely.
The change comes after a people were invited to give evidence and discuss the matter, with 99% of people giving their support for the measure.
Owners found not to have microchipped their cat will have 21 days to have one implanted, or could face a fine of up to £500.
As ever it seems curmudgeonly and obstructive to criticise such a move, but there is a point to not doing it. At some point official interference in daily life may reach some kind of limit where the ability to adapt comes to an end. Some would say we are well on the way to reaching that point now.
It may also seem curmudgeonly and obstructive to suggest that it won't stop with cats. Yet whatever the next step may be, there will be a next step. This is how bureaucracies operate.
9 comments:
There's an old fashioned view of the English character (if only one national character can exist) that the general populace go around putting up with daft laws, queues, and bad weather, muttering 'Mustn't grumble'.
Yet even lower than the mutter is the corollary... "...I'll not make a fuss but I won't comply." My guess is that there is an awful lot of non-compliance out there with ordinary people just getting on with their lives whilst the Establishment swans on thinking all is well.
How many people actually had a dog licence or a fishing licence? How many people have a TV licence? How many people complete the Electoral roll? Or even insure their cars and tax them? Which is why there are so many computer systems being constructed to cut down on the rules evasion.
And, of course why the Brexit Referendum result was such a surprise to the Establishment.
The cat detector vans will be out in force.
I just love the idea of the government consulting the public and finding out what they would like. "You tell us what's wrong, and we'll fix it by passing laws to make something compulsory!"
They've given up trying to justify their jobs, and are asking us for suggestions. Our cat is chipped because we don't want to lose him, but it never occurred to me that neighbours with cats need a bit of coercion to follow suit. Perhaps someone somewhere is overwhelmed with unclhipped lost cats. But I doubt it.
Some years ago a feral mother had her litter in our wood pile; after many months they started eating by the back door, and eventually came into the house; parasites were a problem and treated via food until one day the vet refused to dispense the stuff because it was against the law without examining the cats – it took several months to trap each one for spaying let alone to be make them legal. It is interesting to learn that madness is catching, spreading and getting worse.
DJ - people I know and come across tend to comply as a matter of course. There are exceptions and maybe some minor transgressions but not many. Having no dog licence used to be common, but since then people seem to have been nudged quite successfully towards widespread compliance.
James - time to apply for that pet fish licence.
Sam - it's a bureaucratic invention and there will be more because there is no mechanism to stop it.
Richard - yes madness is catching, spreading and getting worse. It's like a parasite eating up our common sense.
I think feral teenagers are more of a problem than cats, why penalise cats?
Will Plod use a CAT-scan to check the animals?
If there must be a compulsory edict, I'd prefer to make it bells on cats, to help protect the millions of songbirds they now kill annually.
My pet rocks are quivering in fearful anticipation that they will be next. I think the tamagochis should go first.
Woodsy - feral MPs are a problem too.
Ed - cats round here seem to be too well fed to catch anything. They just amble around.
Penseivat - for a moment I wondered what you meant about pet rocks. Chipping those certainly would have a chap quivering in fearful anticipation.
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