Thousands of pet owners have backed calls for a new law to make councils check dead cats and dogs found on roads for microchips. Campaigners say some councils check microchips but others don't so it's a "postcode lottery" as to whether owners can "say goodbye properly".
The petition to the UK government was started by Maya Nessa, 40, who says Luton council found her chipped Zazu at the side of the road. But she claims workers disposed of him without checking for a microchip.
Nearly 2,000 other pet owners have backed Maya's petition calling for legislation making it mandatory for all councils to check deceased cats and dogs found on roads for microchips. Luton Borough Council’s policy says deceased dogs and cats found in a public place should be scanned if they have a microchip - but they didn't in this case, she says.
Maya, a stay-at-home mum-of-four said: “It’s been awful. Our pets are more than just animals - they are family members who provide us with unconditional love and companionship.
“They deserve dignity in death as much as they do in life and the simple act of scanning for a microchip can bring closure to grieving families and ensure that our pets are treated with respect.”
Maya lost Zazu on January 27. The next day a neighbour came round to her house saying a dead cat had been found at the side of a road right by Maya's house.
Maya went to the neighbour's house later that day with a picture, with the neighbour saying it matched the cat he had found dead, while the council confirmed on January 29 that a dead cat had been removed from the very same area at the same time. Maya was told by the council that they don’t always check for chips to notify owners – despite it being policy to do so.
“I called a local councillor and was told the same thing – that they don’t have the budget to scan every cat they find," she said. Maya says this is despite the RSPCA handing out scanning devices for pet chips for free.
The experience added insult to injury for Maya – whose cat Zazu appears to have been hit by a car after getting into a cat fight, she said. Maya said: “He was only 17 months old and was very healthy.
“The policy needs to be made legally binding – owners should be notified, we all love our pets and it makes the whole trauma even worse not knowing what’s happened to them. Families like ours should be allowed the opportunity to say goodbye to our pets properly."
Luton Borough Council didn't respond to a request for comment. But a section on its website said: “In the unfortunate event of a deceased pet being found it can easily identified if it is microchipped.
“This goes for cats as well as dogs. All deceased cats and dogs that are found by the council's Street Cleansing team are then brought to the central depot for scanning of microchips. Non microchipped pets have their details recorded and we preserve the animals in a freezer for one month prior to disposal.”
Helena Abrahams has been campaigning for a law to ensure cats and dogs fitted with microchips are scanned before they are put down after her cat Gizmo was struck by a car in 2016 before being removed from the roadside and taken to landfill. Helena said: "The problem is councils across the country do not scan these cats even when it says they do on all their websites. We need closure on this issue, and a law change cannot come soon enough."
Helena says 92% of local councils have a form of arrangement in place to scan cats, but only about 75% are actually informing the microchip company, which tells the owner. www.change.org/p/make-it-mandatory-for-councils-to-check-microchips-of-deceased-pets-found-on-roads
