Cats abandoned by the government: Sign the open letter

Cats Protection is dismayed at the lack of meaningful protections for cats and kittens in the Animal Welfare Strategy.

Our open letter calls on the government to:

end harmful cat breeding practices through regulation
ban electric shock collars
introduce a single point of search for microchipping databases
provide clarity on the timelines for plans to: enforce current animal welfare legislation, ban cruel and inhumane snare traps, protect animals within rescue and rehoming organisations.

Help us put pressure on the government to take immediate and meaningful action to protect cats from further harm.

Dear Secretary of State,

We are deeply concerned about the recently published Animal Welfare Strategy, which fails to deliver meaningful protections for cats and kittens.

Harmful cat breeding practices are becoming increasingly common and action from government is urgently needed. Evidence shows that these practices are putting cats and kittens’ welfare at risk. In December 2024, the government-appointed Animal Welfare Committee recommended the regulation of cat breeding practices. Failure to act now will continue the escalation of dangerous trends, allowing sick and suffering cats to be bred and sold, and fuel an exploitative market.

We are also disappointed that the Strategy does not commit to introducing a single point of search for microchipping databases. Currently, anyone scanning a cat has to search multiple databases across 23 operators, as well as bogus sites, in an attempt to reunite the cat with their owner. With microchipping now being a legal requirement for pet cats in England, this is simply not good enough.

We are also calling on the government to implement a ban on electric shock collars, which are designed to cause pain, fear, and stress, and are detrimental to animal health. The strategy sets out to consult on the issue, again. But a consultation has already been carried out in 2018 which demonstrated strong support from animal welfare experts for a ban.

There is now a growing and urgent risk to cat welfare in the UK, compounded by the alarming lack of detail on other measures affecting pets, including:

enforcement of existing animal welfare legislation
a ban on cruel and inhumane snares
protections for animals within rescue and rehoming organisations

Cats Protection is urgently calling on the government to take immediate and meaningful action to protect cats from further harm and ensure that they are not abandoned by the government’s animal welfare agenda.

Yours sincerely,

John May, CEO, Cats Protection

And Cats Protection supporters across the country

Open letter to the government

Fill in your details below and click "Add my name" to sign the open letter

First name

Last name

Address line 1

Postcode

Email address

We’d love to keep in touch, by telling you about our work with cats, inviting you to support fundraising appeals, join events, campaigns or to volunteer. However, we don’t want to bother you unnecessarily. That is why we may analyse your personal information (and in some cases add publicly available information) to help ensure we send you communications we think you will care about. Rest assured, we’ll never swap or sell any details about you with other organisations.

Yes, I would like to receive emails

If you’d prefer NOT to receive information by post, please tick this box

If you wish to change the ways we contact you, please contact Supporter Services by telephoning 0800 917 2287 Monday to Friday during office hours (9am-5pm), emailing [email protected] or writing to us at Freepost Cats Protection. Please visit www.cats.org.uk/terms-privacy if you have any questions about how we use your data.