Positive news re treatment of deceased cats picked up by local council teams

Edinburgh Animal Welfare Connections (EAWC) is an informal gathering of like-minded organisations.  They meet regularly to share information about local animal welfare matters and campaigns.

Lothian Cat Rescue is part of this group and we wanted to share some positive news with you in relation to one of the topics that EAWC has been working on recently, relating to the treatment of deceased cats picked up by local council teams.

We  – like other welfare organisations – frequently have owners contacting us about lost cats.  Most are happily reunited, but not all endings are happy and a number of cats are sadly killed on the road each year.  Councils will pick up deceased cats, but individual councils have different processes in place and feedback from cat owners is that they have often struggled to find out if their council has collected their cat.

Whilst it’s upsetting to consider that a missing cat may have been killed in a road accident, most owners feel it’s better to know what has happened than never find out.

EAWC felt it could play a positive role in this situation by putting together a best practice guide for councils, being sensitive to the financial pressures on the councils, and aimed at making practical suggestions that would be easy to implement. This best practice applies equally to other types of pet, which local councils might uplift.

Very happily, the City of Edinburgh Council approached one of our EAWC members around the same time we were planning our guide with an aim to improve their processes, and we have worked together to bring about a number of improvements.  These include:

  • better information and advice on the council website
  • a single point of contact for enquiries
  • more microchip scanners at council depots
  • a central point to hold and store bodies for up to one month
  • a single register to record the details of any found bodies.

Many thanks to Keith Young and his colleagues at the City of Edinburgh Council for bringing about these hugely beneficial processes, which we hope , will make it easier for owners to find out what may have happened to their cat.

http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20043/community_safety_and_antisocial_behaviour/1714/dead_animals