Call for evidence outcome

Microchipping cats in England: call for evidence

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Animal and Plant Health Agency
• Published: 12 October 2019
• Last updated: 23 December 2020 — See all updates

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

This call for evidence has closed

Read the full outcome

Summary of responses and government response

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Detail of outcome

We received 3,140 responses to this call for evidence. Given the overwhelming support for compulsory cat microchipping, with some 99% of respondents supporting the policy, we have launched a full consultation on cat and dog microchipping and scanning in England.

Defra is undertaking a Post Implementation Review (PIR) of the 2015 Regulations in England which will inform decisions on possible changes to the way dog microchipping is regulated. Following the consultation exercise and the PIR, Defra will consider what changes will be required and how best to implement these.

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Original call for evidence

Summary

Seeking evidence to understand the consequences of making microchipping of cats mandatory in England. We're not seeking opinions on introducing a law at this stage.

This call for evidence ran from
12 October 2019 to 5pm on 4 January 2020

Call for evidence description

We’re asking for evidence on the consequences of making owners get their cats microchipped in England. We’re only looking at evidence of the consequences, not opinions on introducing this rule. In particular, we want evidence on:

• the benefits and drawbacks of requiring owners to microchip their cats, including costs
• how microchipping could help fix any nuisance problems
• how microchipping all cats would apply to feral or stray cats
• how we could make the rules, check and enforce them
• experiences with current compliant microchip databases
• any exemptions we should consider to microchipping cats

Documents

Cat microchipping in England: call for evidence document

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Published 12 October 2019
Last updated 23 December 2020 + show all updates

1. 23 December 2020

   Added the summary of responses and government response.

2. 12 October 2019

   First published.