A cat that was returned to its family after going missing for six months has been hailed as a prime example of why getting a cat chipped is so important.
The Falkirk Herald reported on how Martha, a black cat from the town, went missing in September before being taken to the Cat’s Protection Forth Valley Centre following reports of a stray.
Volunteer Margaret Kirkwood scanned Marth and found she was chipped, which meant she could be reunited with her owners. She had been rehomed from Yorkshire in February, but had run away the day she arrived.
It should be no surprise that Martha was chipped, as it has been a legal requirement in England for cats over the age of 20 weeks to be chipped since June this year. However, this is not yet the case in Scotland. Moreover, not everyone has followed the law even where it does apply, with the paper reporting that around three million UK cats are not chipped.
Speaking about the case, the deputy manager of the centre Rachael Ward said: “Being able to reunite Martha was the best feeling, but it was only possible because of her microchip and Margaret’s dedication.“
Martha’s owner drove all the way from Yorkshire to be reunited with her missing pet, despite initially being sceptical about the call she received after being scammed before. Declaring herself “over the moon”, she has taken the cat back to her old stomping ground in the north of England.
If six months had been a long time for Martha to be missing, seven years was something else. But, the BBC reported, that was what happened to Kylo, a cat from Glasgow who had gone missing and was only reunited with his real owners after spending the intervening years north of the city in the town of Bishopbriggs.
He had been found and adopted by a woman who had mistaken him for a female and renamed the cat Poppy.
However, Kylo’s true identity was discovered when he was scanned during a trip to the vet, enabling a belated reunion to take place.
