Animals lost and found in Kent have been campaigning for around 6 years for the rules on microchips to be brought in line with the rules for dogs.
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00:00 The Medway charity that turned a dream into legislation.
00:04 Natasha and her partner Dee started Animals Lost and Found in Kent after their cat went missing.
00:10 They've played a crucial role in making microchipping cats mandatory across the UK.
00:16 And the legislation came into force this week.
00:19 This is where it all began for Dee and Natasha ten years ago
00:23 in their mission to help rescue and protect cats right across Medway and Kent.
00:27 But it's been in the last six years where they've really been pushing that all cats in the UK get microchipped.
00:33 Currently about 25% aren't.
00:36 But they hope with this new legislation those numbers will start to change.
00:40 I mean we're only a small cog in a massive part of a massive machine that's actually made this work.
00:46 And when it came to how strongly we felt about the microchipping legislation
00:52 and it needing to be changed to cats too.
00:55 We did get a bit of a back from it but people saying actually you can't govern this.
01:00 It's not going to work and dogs are bigger than cats and cats are free roamers.
01:05 And what about the feral?
01:06 If your cat is chipped it comes home.
01:09 It's as simple as that because you don't own the animal, you own the chip.
01:12 It's exactly the same really technically as a car and a logbook.
01:16 You own the logbook not the car.
01:18 And if you're not logging your pet well you could face a fine of up to £500.
01:23 National charity Cats Protection say the deterrent is working
01:27 despite record numbers of animals being rescued and microchipping being a challenge to police.
01:33 This isn't about trying to fine people or make money from people.
01:37 This is more about trying to encourage people and show how important it is that they have their cats microchipped.
01:43 So I think when people are found to not have their cats microchipped
01:46 they'll be given a notice and have 21 days to go to the vet and get their cat microchipped.
01:51 And this will cost between, depending where you are in the country, £20 and £30.
01:56 And that money means volunteers like Natasha can check on any lost or injured cats.
02:02 So you have to really go over the entire animal.
02:05 I always start here and I go down and then I go down the other side.
02:10 And I do it slowly. I go in with the mindset of there's a chip there, I need to find it.
02:14 Where some people just go, oh they're not chipped.
02:17 It's not good enough. I always try really hard and the other volunteers try really hard
02:22 to make sure that that animal is scanned properly and thoroughly.
02:25 Unlike dogs at eight weeks, cats must be microchipped and registered by the time they're 20 weeks old
02:31 with contact details stored and kept up to date in an approved database.
02:36 And just like the paw prints in the concrete when this place was built,
02:40 Natasha's push for this legislation is now cemented in the heart of what they do.
02:45 Abbey Hook for KMTV in Medway.