Cats: Tagging
(asked on 22nd October 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) enforcement notices have been issued and (b) prosecutions have been brought for failure to comply with cat microchipping requirements under the Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023 since 10 June 2024.
Answered by
Stephen Morgan
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested on enforcement and prosecutions is not held centrally by Government.
Defra will keep under review whether to grant local authorities the power to issue conditional fixed penalty notices for non-compliance with microchipping regulations for dogs and cats.
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy for England, Defra will continue to support the roll out of cat microchipping.
Defra has not carried out a formal assessment of trends in compliance with the statutory requirement for cats to be microchipped since 10 June 2024.