Microchips are the safest and quickest way to reunite a cat with their owner. Without one, they might never be reunited with their family.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The centre has 92 cats and kittens being cared for by volunteers, with a further 51 on the waiting list.<\/p>\n
These range in age from week-old kittens who will be ready for homing once they are old enough, up to 14-year-old cats.<\/p>\n
Cats Protection advocacy and government relations officer for Northern Ireland Alice Palombo said: \u201cThese plans are a huge step forward for Northern Ireland and we will be doing everything we can to help bring them into action and drive them forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to working with Minister Muir and his department to make a better life for cats in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also great to see a commitment to look into compulsory microchipping for cats in Northern Ireland by examining how this new law has been working in England.<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthern Ireland consistently has the lowest cat microchipping rates in the UK.<\/p>\n
\u201cMicrochips are the safest and quickest way to reunite a cat with their owner. Without one, they might never be reunited with their family.<\/p>\n
\u201cA cat without a microchip also puts a strain on rehoming organisations like Cats Protection.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team has to try to locate the owners of the cat without a microchip, which takes up space in our pens for cats that need us the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Northern](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cat-7533717.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Northern Ireland has the lowest microchipping rates in the UK (stock image)<\/p>\n
News Catch Up – Tuesday 10th June<\/p>\n
She added cats that are not microchipped have an impact on their trap, neuter and release work which helps control local feral populations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a cat without a microchip comes into the care of a rehoming organisation like Cats Protection, it places a strain on our resources to find the owner,\u201d Ms Palombo added.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike most rehoming organisations across Northern Ireland, we have long waiting lists and owned cats without microchips take up space in pens for cats that need us the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
The USPCA are members of the NICAWG (Northern Ireland Animal Welfare Group) and have also welcomed the minister\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the charity said that responsible cat ownership can help protect wildlife.<\/p>\n
\u201cFeral cats often live in difficult conditions without regular food, shelter, or veterinary care, and their instinct to hunt can impact small birds and mammals,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHumanely managing stray and feral cat populations through neutering is a much-needed solution.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdditionally, responsible cat ownership is key in helping to protect our wildlife.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimple steps like keeping cats indoors during dawn and dusk can help birds and using quick-release collars with bells will warn potential prey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that cats are beloved companions to many.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a bit of care, we can protect both pets and wild animals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A plan announced by Daera last month \u2014 The Animal Welfare Pathway \u2018Advancing Animal Welfare in Northern Ireland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[6416,8819,23670,23668,23669,1144,39255,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-172180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-alliance-party","9":"tag-amy-cochrane","10":"tag-andrew-muir","11":"tag-department-of-agriculture","12":"tag-environment-rural-affairs-daera","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-northern-ireland-assembly","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114657495923108056","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}