Completed petition Compulsory scanning of domestic pets for microchips by councils
We call on the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to introduce a policy to implement the compulsory scanning of domestic pets by councils.
Vets and shelters will scan pets found but there is no requirement from councils. The microchip system can only be fully effective if animals that have been microchipped are scanned and this is vital for the owners who have to endure the mental torment of never knowing and continuing searches for weeks/months when a family pet goes missing.
Currently there is no policy in place for councils to scan cats & dogs found by the street cleaning teams within councils. When a pet is missing it is devastating for their owners. But sometimes, when a cat goes missing, its owners may never find out if they are lost or have been killed in a road accident. There is no closure for the owners and their feelings of loss may go on and on.
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At present, the Welsh councils who do not scan are Gwynedd, Anglesey, Cardiff, Newport, Blaenau Gwent and Neath Port Talbot. The remaining councils do currently scan. However, these councils admit they only scan when they deem the animal in a state to be so. This only partly eases pet owners grief as still many will never find out. Most animals involved in road collisions do sustain major injury which should not be used as an excuse to barricade the moral duties of letting the owners know. All domestic animals should be scanned, regardless of state, and the owners notified. Whilst it is considered the unfortunate upset or distress the street clean may endure when scanning animals found in a bad way, the fact is they will handle these animals regardless of our proposed policy. They will handle these cases on a regular basis at present. Although we appreciate the upsetting nature, the proposed policy does not encourage this any further than it currently is and the heartache would not be consistent with the owners who love and know these animals personally and morally have a right to know what has happened.
This petition was considered by the Petitions Committee
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