Heart-breaking footage released by Gizmo's Legacy ahead of second Pets (Microchip) Bill reading

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT

The Gizmo’s Legacy campaign – which demands for local authorities to check all cats killed or injured on the roads for a microchip – has released heart-breaking footage of a cat trying to wake her dead sibling.

In the video - at the end of this article - a grey cat is seen trying to wake her deceased sibling after being killed on the roads.

The video has been released ahead of the second reading of the Pets (Microchips) Bill later this month; the campaign has been pushing for Gizmo’s Law to be passed in Parliament, so deceased cats are scanned for microchips by UK councils so that bereaved pet owners can get closure.

Currently, drivers are not obliged to report running over a cat, and council road sweepers do not have to check for a microchip containing the owner’s details, before disposing of the body.

Some councils do scan for microchips to inform owners, but it is not currently a legal obligation.

Heléna Abrahams is the driving force behind the campaign for Gizmo's Law. The campaign first started in 2016, when her beloved cat Gizmo, was disposed of after being hit by a car, with no attempt made to reunite her with her beloved pet.

Heléna went on to form Gizmo's Legacy and Gizmo's Army, a network of over 1,000 volunteers across the UK, who search the streets day and night, to check dead cats for microchips before they are disposed of.

A petition started by Heléna - to scan the cats found - garnered over 107,000 signatures from across the UK, with the most support from anywhere in the country being Heywood and Middleton (634 signatures), and Rochdale (607 signatures).

Heléna said: “The video we want you to take a minute out of your busy schedule to watch is from an RTA I was called out to on 4 March. If this doesn’t pull at your heartstrings and prove cats are sentient beings, and deserve more respect than being thrown in landfill, then I don’t believe you have a heart.

“We are on call 24-7, 365 days a year to go and retrieve injured and deceased cats around the country, to ensure the councils cannot get their hands on them.

“We have worked tirelessly with James Daly MP to get Gizmo’s Law through Parliament, but this government seems to class cats as vermin, compared to all other animals walking this earth.

“There are over 11 million cat owners, which is 2 million more than dogs, so why are cats not treated with the same dignity and respect? Why DEFRA insist on saying the councils are following ‘best practice’ is so frustrating, when Gizmo’s Legacy have proved hardly any councils scan, let alone bother to check the database, if they actually have a cat that is chipped in their possession.

“Evidence of this comes through our tireless efforts because we have council workers working with us from the inside, who dare not whistle blow for fear of losing their jobs.

“To us, that excuse has worn so thin now and it’s time every government minister backed James Daly and got Gizmo’s Law through, so no more cats go to landfill and owners have the closure they deserve.

“We need everyone to show their support for James Daly MP and stop delaying one of the most important laws this country needs putting in place.”

The Pets (Microchips) Bill has its second reading in the House of Commons on 24 March.

Bury North MP James Daly, who tabled the Bill, said: “I’ve been campaigning for this for three years now and brought this as a private members' bill to Parliament.

“We are exploring every legislative way possible to bring Gizmo’s Law into being.

“I remain hopeful but confident by the end of Parliament to bring in a piece of legislation as an important part of animal welfare legislation so that people know what has happened to their much-loved pet.”

 

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