Mind the cats

Mind the cats

Parliamentarians that returned to work earlier this month will have found a surprise on the Westminster underground where they were greeted with giant posters of cats.

The UK’s leading feline welfare charity Cats Protection is hoping to raise awareness of welfare issues with a targeted advertising campaign to improve engagement with political decision makers.

The campaign features a giant poster at the special parliamentarian exit of Westminster underground station, alongside photos of cats at ticket barriers and up and down escalators with the strapline ‘Speaking up for Cats’ and the message ‘Every three minutes we help another cat’.

“While cats might seem less important than mainstream issues, they are part of society and part of many families’ lives,” said Jacqui Cuff, Cats Protection’s Advocacy Manager. “They need our protection as they are often the victims of horrendous crimes which include being shot, poisoned, caught in snares, abandoned or attacked by dogs. Politicians from all parties can improve cat welfare immeasurably by backing our campaigns.”

The charity’s 2022 Agenda for Cats sets out what it would like Parliament to achieve by the next election. This includes:

  • Enhanced border checks for cats entering the UK
  • Air gun licensing to be introduced in England and Wales
  • Microchipping of owned cats to be compulsory across the UK
  • Strengthened legislation to prevent dog attacks on cats
  • Regulation of commercial cat breeding
  • Animal welfare education to be included in the national curriculum

Cats Protection’s Westminster advertising campaign will run until 24 September. Please visit http://www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/speaking-up-for-cats to find out more about the charity’s advocacy work.

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11 thoughts on “Mind the cats

  1. simon7banks says:

    Some good points, but it’s very easy to say things like “strengthening legislation on…” and some very bad legislation can result from it. Again, making microchipping owned cats compulsory – this would need very careful handling and a long lead-in period, or there would be massive backlogs at vets and some isolated older people losing their pets or being hauled through the courts. As for the national curriculum, more and more schools are academies which don’t have to follow it. The airgun point is absolutely right and long overdue.

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