In January 2018, a new cat licensing by-law took effect in Guelph, ON. The purpose of this by-law is to increase the number of cats that are returned to their owners from the city’s shelter.
From the City of Guelph’s website:
In 2015, 584 cats were brought in as strays to the Guelph Humane Society. But only 13% (77 cats) were reclaimed by their owners.
This is not great news for the other cats that were not reclaimed!
Licensing is meant to be applicable to all cats in the city and is done through an online process.
A tag is provided once a cat is licensed, that is meant to be worn on a collar. Of course collars and tags are always problematic for cats. They love to get rid of collars.
But if your cat has a microchip, the city records this information as part of the licensing.
Any stray cat that arrives at a shelter or a veterinarian’s office is scanned for a microchip. Now, a microchip has two ways of getting your cat back to you- either through the microchip company database, or through the city licensing database.
Micro-chipping is not new, but the new statistics released by the city about re-homing rates for stray cats confirm how important it is to have your cat micro-chipped. Please visit your Guelph veterinarian as soon as possible to have your cat micro-chipped. This quick and inexpensive procedure could save your cat’s life!
