some people just have to be educated http://www.chesterfieldtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=728&ArticleID=1964240
*Heartbroken owner raps council's policy on
disposal of dead cats*
Anguish: Rebecca Gosling with a poster looking for her lost microchiped pet
A grieving cat-owner has accused a council of treating animals as
"pieces of rubbish" after being told dead cats are disposed of without
being scanned for identification.
Rebecca Gosling of Creswell Road, Clowne, contacted Bolsover District
Council after her beloved two-year-old pet Kovu went missing.
She was told a dead cat fitting Kovu's description -- white with grey
patches on the back -- had been collected by council workers and
disposed of on January 2.
But Miss Gosling (28) cannot identify the animal because the council
routinely disposes of dead cats without scanning them for microchips --
which hold information about the pet and its owner.
She said: "This was an animal that I cared for greatly, not another
piece of rubbish. I now have no way of knowing if this was my beloved
cat, and this has caused me a lot of unnecessary distress."
A spokesman for Bolsover District Council said: "We have a duty and a
policy with stray dogs where we do check for ID and microchips. But as
an authority, we do not have a duty to deal with stray cats.
"If we find a dead cat we dispose of it straight away -- because of
health issues -- unless it has a collar or visible form of identity."
Miss Gosling got Kovu and his sister Kiera from the RSPCA in August 2005.
The centre inserts microchips in all its animals and scans every
creature -- dead or alive -- that is brought in.
Richard Woodwards of Chesterfield RSPCA said: "It's a two-minute job
with a handheld scanner that costs less than £100. I understand the
lady's complaint -- people want to know one way or the other."
jennifer.ivers@derbyshiretimes.co.uk
11 January 2007
maybe the rspca or cats protection might have a word with this ignorant council