Charities unite in new microchip plea

A new plea has been issued after a charity revealed barely one in 10 of the stray cats and dogs it cared for over a five-year period was microchipped.

Scottish SPCA figures also showed most stray dogs handed to local authorities were not chipped, with less than a third that were containing current owners’ details.

The group, plus other welfare organisations, has now appealed for more owners to act amid fears microchipping levels may be falling.

‘Extremely frustrating’

SSPCA head of rehoming, fostering and community engagement, Jennie Macdonald, said: “The volume of animals we get into our care is extremely frustrating, as many of them could actually have an owner but have purely just got lost.

“We are not able to trace them due to the absence of a microchip or it not having up to date details.”

According to the SSPCA’s figures, published to coincide with World Stray Animal Day on 4 April, 3,284 stray cats and dogs were taken into its care between 2021 and 2025.

Of those, only 377 (11.48%) were microchipped, while fewer than one in four were reunited with their owners.

The group also found that only 2,065 of the 5,409 stray dogs known to have been handled by Scottish councils since 2020 were microchipped, around 38% of the total, based on responses to Freedom of Information requests.

Among those that were chipped, less that one in three (656) contained the current owner’s details.

Levels falling

Meanwhile, Cats Protection figures suggest that more than 260,000 owned cats may still be without a microchip in Scotland.

Its previous analysis found microchipping levels fell to 69% last year from 72% in 2024 and the group says compulsory requirements, similar to those already in place in England, should be introduced

Advocacy and government relations manager Alice Palombo said: “It’s disappointing to see microchipping rates continue to fall in Scotland and signifies that owners are not proactively microchipping their cats.”