Dead animal collection by councils.

Someone (elsewhere on the big old internetty thingamagig) raised an interesting question for me a few days ago. She said that if cats(animals) get run over in the UK & the council collects them they are not scanned for the owner to be notified.

I would be horrified if any of my pets came to this end!

So... I made a call to my council. Seems they only check for a chip if the animal is  fully intact as most rangers do not carry scanners. They also do not check every animal.    seems we are the same as you all.

So I made another call.....to my local elected member!  Well blow me down.... he actually answered his mob!

Nice bloke! He listened, asked questions, we joked, (have I microchipped my OH?)  
For the rates I pay, god forbid one of mine got out & was killed... I would expect to be notified. Better knowing a bad result than just never knowing.
He was quite understanding, he too has a dog, a spaniel. I asked (jokingly) ... yeah, you are listening but is this just political yeah, yeah, & you do nothing? He said "NO! I will get an answer, see if we can improve the process & I'll call you back within 5-7 days".

I actually "kind of" believe him but, well see!  

Thanks to "her" for raising the question in my mind. Something that's very important but I hadn't ever thought about before.

Yes, in the UK a cat is considered 'wild' and the authorities are not obliged to scan for a chip or notify the owners; neither do you have to report running a cat over in your car. I think it differs, though, from council to council.

Dogs, however, are different. If you run a dog over it's against the law not to inform the authorities. Although there's no law that says the authorities must scan for a chip, many do. If a dog is taken to a vet after a road accident, by someone other than its owner, the vet is obliged to scan for a chip, although it's possible that some don't.

Like you, I would rather know the worst than never know at all.

It's similar here. Though you do not have to inform anyone if you hit an animal here, however both cats & dogs are scanned if taken to a vet. If they are dead in the street it appears they are under no obligation to scan or notify the owner.

I will see what my council member says... I am thinking about somehow doing a drive to raise funds so all rangers can be equiped with a scanner. This issue bothers me terribly & it shouldnt be this way.

Though I will probably not succeed I am thinking about how I could do it?

How about starting with a petition? If the councils say they are for it but can't afford it, maybe you could start up a charitable fund to supply at least some of the scanners?

The problem is that many people are reluctant to give funds to anything other than a registered charity.

I believe I've already signed such a petition - I'll try and dig it out.

Lorraine wrote:I believe I've already signed such a petition - I'll try and dig it out.

Trouble is, Tracy's in Australia. I don't know what petition sites are available there.

Yes - I had missed that you were suggesting to Tracy to start a petition!

Here's the UK petition I signed:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/62490

Sorry Tracy.

Still a good petition, though & I've signed it!

Here you're lucky if the person that ran over your dog/cat even stops and it's your problem to find your pet. Vets or the SPCA will scan a dog or cat that is brought in.

Lorraine wrote:Yes - I had missed that you were suggesting to Tracy to start a petition!

Here's the UK petition I signed:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/62490

Sorry Tracy.

There is absolutely no reason to say sorry! I commend you for signing that! No matter the country I think the owner should be notified.

Confused dot com! Thought i had replied to this. I think it should be law that all police/council carry microchip things so they can keep track of more pets. Even if police developed a smaller hand held type one, which would also be good for animal welfare officers.

Caryll wrote:

Lorraine wrote:I believe I've already signed such a petition - I'll try and dig it out.

Trouble is, Tracy's in Australia. I don't know what petition sites are available there.

I cant find one! But.... I'll see what my council man says & ask & go from there. Politics is not where I chose to go but... I'm not happy with this!

Hayley wrote:. Even if police developed a smaller hand held type one, which would also be good for animal welfare officers.

I think that's a good idea!

I have signed the petition - thank you for bringing it to my notice.

When Kuchar made his bid for freedom last week, my biggest dread was that I would come across his mangled body in the road, as he has NO road sense and has an inclination to chase cars if the mood is upon him.

My son phoned the dog warden that night and I expected that at least he/she would have a scanner - I must find out if this is the case.

This is quite raw for me so I will pursue it. Over the years I have taken in several lost dogs (in the days when the police were interested in such things) and a rather fewer lost or run-over cats so it's not just a selfish thing.

Caryll wrote:

The problem is that many people are reluctant to give funds to anything other than a registered charity.

Yeah! I'm thinking maybe a link on the council's website to show its legitimate. But dont know how or if I'll be able to do it?

Lynda.... I would also take in any animal, lost or injured. But I would also go to the vets to get it scanned to try to get it back home or notify its owner.

You are not selfish, my stomach fell out when I read about kuchar. But I'm hedging my bet that your dog warden does not have a scanner onboard either.

I do thank you Tracy for your empathy, it was and is much appreciated. Thankfully, my son's "female acquaintance" searched tirelessly and endlessly in an area I would never have dreamed that Kuchar would have gone to, found him, and with some difficulty caught him, and I can never thank her enough as I told her at the time.

If our dog warden doesn't have a scanner it's an absolute scandal - I will follow this up.

In the future if and when I come across a lost domestic animal I will take it to the vet for a scan.

tracyp wrote:

Caryll wrote:

The problem is that many people are reluctant to give funds to anything other than a registered charity.

Yeah! I'm thinking maybe a link on the council's website to show its legitimate.  But dont know how or if I'll be able to do it?

I think it's worth discussing with your local council. Do you have a Citizens' Advice Bureau or similar where you can get legal advice? If so, they might be able to point you in the right direction?