Another happy tale of a long-lost cat being reunited with its owner has highlighted the benefits of cat chipping, but while this is now mandatory in England, it is also important to remember to update your pet chip when moving home.
The lucky cat in question, called Molly, was found wandering around a holiday park near Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland, 35 miles away from her home in Hadston, the Northumberland Gazette reports.
After staff at the park looked after the cat for a month but nobody claimed her, they took her to Berwick Animal Rescue Kennels, who used the chip to trace her to owner Tracy McLeod.
Getting Molly chipped was clearly a wise move, but while this is now a legal requirement in England, those living a few miles north of Berwick-upon-Tweed rather than a few miles south are still not required to do so, although campaigners have called for Scotland to follow suit.
This case also shows why it is vital to update your pet microchip when moving home, as otherwise if your cat does go missing it could end up being traced back to the wrong address. If this happens after it has been gone a long time, for instance when mail is no longer being forwarded, it could be harder to trace the pet to its real owners.
If a four-year wait to reunite a missing cat with its owners sounds like a long time, a cat called Pepe has made the headlines by finally making it back home after more than twice as long.
The cat went missing from Ribbleton in Lancashire in 2015, with its owner putting up posters and appealing online for Pepe’s return to no avail.
However, the cat was recently found at a Lancashire Police motorway post at Salmesbury, just two miles from Ribbleton, with PC Liz Harrison taking Pepe to the vet because he had an injured paw. Thanks to him being chipped, his long exile was soon at an end.
