“We are particularly pleased to see the Welsh Government plans to look at introducing a system of licensing and registration for animal welfare establishments, something which has already been introduced in Scotland. There is also a plan to look into breeding regulations and we would like to see this introduced for cats.

“Once again, the Welsh Government has said it will consider the case for compulsory microchipping of pet cats – a position which has been the same since 2017. Microchipping is a vital part of responsible pet ownership, and our research from 2020 shows there are around 146,000 unchipped owned cats in Wales.

“We would now like to see the Welsh Government move forward on this as soon as possible. With a commitment to introduce compulsory microchipping for pet cats in England, we are concerned Wales will be left behind unless the Welsh Government moves forward soon on this important cat welfare issue.”

Microchipping stats from Cats Protection’s Cats and Their Stats report 2020.