Charities call for compulsory cat microchipping in Scotland
Microchipping helps reunite cats with owners, as well as supporting TNVR initiatives.
A coalition of animal charities and organisations has united to call for the Scottish Government to make cat microchipping compulsory in Scotland.
The group, which includes Cats Protection, Blue Cross and the British Veterinary Association (BVA), has written to minister Jim Fairlie asking him to make a commitment to bringing the requirement into law.
Statistics from Cats Protection’s 2025 Cats and their Stats Scotland report found that around 69 per cent of cats in the country were microchipped. This means that around 260,000 cats in the country may be un-microchipped.
The coalition says that compulsory microchipping is the best way to improve these statistics.
It highlights the common likelihood of a cat becoming lost, injured or trapped in a vehicle, even if they are kept exclusively indoors. The organisations say that a microchip significantly increases the chances of a cat becoming reunited with its owner.
Compulsory microchipping has been linked to improving trap, neuter, vaccinate and return (TNVR) programmes. Owned cats will be more easily identifiable, meaning charities can focus on those that are genuinely unowned.
In one case, the charity says it had to rehome a pregnant stray which had clearly once been someone’s pet because it was not microchipped.
The campaign has also been recommended by the Scottish Welfare Commission, which has offered to support the Scottish Government in bringing compulsory microchipping into law.
Alice Palombo, advocacy and government relation manager for Cats Protection, said: “There’s clear public appetite for compulsory microchipping, with 76% of people in Scotland supporting its introduction. As well as helping reunite more cats with their owners, mandatory microchipping would bring benefits for veterinary professionals and animal welfare organisations too.
“We urge the Scottish Government to place this legislation high on its agenda during the current parliamentary session.”
When asked about the letter, a spokesperson from the Scottish Government said: “We recommend that all cat owners should consider microchipping their pets, and ensuring the information held on them is kept up to date, as the best way of being reunited should they become lost or separated.”
Image © Petrovicheva Mariia/Shutterstock
Companies marketing medicines for small pets exempt from authorisation must submit their annual return to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) by 30 November 2026.
