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Our process
What do we do after we've been alerted to an allegedly stray cat?
You may wonder what the process entails after we've been alerted to a stray cat. It is not as simple as attending the location, picking up the cat, and taking it to our centre.
Cats are viewed as 'goods' in the eyes of the law, and are therefore property. We cannot simply take someone's property without endeavouring to find an owner.
So, once we've been alerted to a potentially stray cat, we make some initial enquiries with the finder. The questions we ask and process we follow can be viewed on our 'Report a Stray' page here: https://www.hectorshousecatrescue.co.uk/reporting-a-stray/
This process is often not straightforward. There are many curveballs thrown our way, for example - the details of the person on the microchip may be of an 'original' owner and the cat is no longer in their care. Often, people cannot give us the details of the person they gave the cat to.
Microchips are often not actually registered. This is fairly common - vets implant the chip but it is the owner's responsibility to register it with a database. Microchipping of cats became law in June 2024, and the owner is responsible for keeping it up-to-date. We also frequently encounter microchip details not being up-to-date. Again, it is the owner's responsibility to ensure the name, address and contact details of the owner are accurate.
We have also encountered foreign microchips - we do not have access to foreign databases.
When we encounter these scenarios, we actually contact local veterinary practices with the microchip number and ask if they have it on their records. They are unable to give us the details of the owner if they do, but they can contact the owners themselves.
Sometimes, if a cat has been missing for a long time and we are eventually able to contact the owner, their circumstances may have changed and in this instance they surrender the cat into our care.
Sometimes the owners take the cats back, but after some time it just sadly doesn't work out. Lives change and evolve, people may have new children, new pets and sometimes it just can't work.
Where a cat is not approachable, we often have to set a trap before we are able to scan for a microchip. Setting a trap for a cat is not an easy endeavour - you can only trap a cat once. Therefore, prior to setting a trap, we have to be able to fully commit bringing this cat into our care on the assumption that it isn't chipped or owned. If we set traps and do not have a space for it, we would have to let it go. It is unlikely that we would then be able to trap that cat again.
We also have to constantly weigh-up the necessity for each cat coming into our care. Our waiting list is often quite long, and unfortunately we have to triage. The most badly injured cats move to the top of the waiting list, meaning uninjured cats have to wait longer. Cats with minor ailments also have to move below cats with major injuries. This is not an easy decision to make, but we don't have endless space and resource.