The RSPCA is hosting a microchipping event for cats in Sheffield to tackle the cat overpopulation crisis.
The animal welfare charity urges owners in Sheffield to microchip their cats after figures reveal that 83% of cats in the charity’s care are not microchipped. 
The event will be held at the RSPCA Sheffield Branch, Stadium Way, Attercliffe, on Saturday 11 May at 10am until 3pm.
Microchipping at the event will cost just £5 and is being run by Cat Smart, an RSPCA-funded project which is aimed at tackling the cat overpopulation crisis in the city.
As well as microchipping, the project offers advice and information to owners, as well as neutering events.
Carries Stones, Cat Population Control Manager at the RSPCA said: “Microchipping your pet is vitally important in ensuring that if anything happens to them, if they are lost or stolen, or hit by a car, then they can be returned to you.
“Despite our best efforts to find an owner, the most reliable way to identify a cat is to have him or her microchipped. If the contact details are out of date the chip is completely useless, so it is vitally important to also tell the chip company yourself if your details change.
“Sadly, our figures show that last year more than 4,000 cats came into RSPCA’s 17 national society centres without microchips, which means more than 83% of cats that we rescue are not chipped. At the RSPCA, we do see higher numbers of unchipped cats than in the general population with 68% of cats being microchipped according to the 2018 PDSA PAW report – but then means there is some way to go
“This is why we are encouraging owners to microchip their cats by hosting events like this so that loving owners in Sheffield can bring their cats to be chipped at a reduced price.”
New figures show that of the 5,171 cats which came into the 17 national centres in England and Wales in 2018, there were 4,320 cats who were not chipped.
How does microchipping work?
Microchipping in quick and simple – vets insert a tiny microchip under the animal’s skin and this gives the pet their own unique code. The microchip can be scanned and matched to the owners’ contact details, which are kept on an online database, such as the PetLog.
Daisy Robinson, North Sheffield Cats Protection Branch Team Leader, said: “Getting your cat neutered is extremely important. Just one unneutered female cat can potentially be responsible for as many as 20,000 offspring in just five years so neutering will help to drive down the number of unwanted kittens in the future.”
North Sheffield Cats Protection will be holding a Snip and Chip event on Saturday 1 June from 9am to 5pm for anyone in Sheffield to attend and receive a voucher for the full cost of neutering and microchipping at selected events.
For more information or to sign up to the event, you can contact Cat Smart on Facebook at facebook.com/CatSmartSeffield.
