Cats
Although cats are often seen as independent animals, the Council
encourages all cat owners to have good knowledge and/or take
professional advice to ensure that they are responsible pet
owners.
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes owners and keepers of animals
responsible for ensuring that the welfare needs of their animals
are met.
These include the need:
- For a suitable environment (place to live)
- For a suitable diet
- To exhibit normal behaviour patterns
- To be housed with, or apart from, other animals (if
applicable)
- To be protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease.
The Council would also encourage cat owners to make sure that
there is a means of identifying their cat (e.g micro-chipping),
consideration to neutering their pet to prevent unwanted
pregnancies, regular health checks, including vaccinations, where
required and the safe and hygienic disposal of all animal
waste.
Cat owners should also familiarize themselves with the codes of
practice for the welfare of cats (see related links below).
Unfortunately as cats can be so independent, they sometimes go
missing. If you think that you have lost your cat, you can report
it missing to the RSPCA and the local Cats Protection, whose
details can be found in related links below.
When a dead cat is reported to the Council, it is collected by
one of our street cleansing teams. The cat is checked to see
if it has a collar with owner details on it and scanned to see if
it is micro chipped, so that the owner can be informed if possible.
Where we are unable to trace an owner details are passed onto the
local Cats Protection and RSPCA branches to be recorded in their
lost and found cat records. The cat will then be stored by a local
Veterinary Surgery for 7 days in case the owner is found and wishes
to claim the animal.