IT WAS at the six-month mark that Ben Durant and his family gave up searching for their cat April.
“We didn’t know what had happened to her… we just hoped she’d gone to a good home,” he said.
But after two years, Mr Durant received a phone call from a nearby vet. April was alive and well. She had been handed in and her microchip had led the vet to her owner.
“We were very thankful… my wife was in tears,” he said.
As a ranger for the City of Whittlesea, he knew all too well the importance of registering and microchipping his pet. Unfortunately, such happy endings are not as common as Mr Durant would like.
“A lot of microchips are not up to date, or the contact details are non-existent.
And if your pet is unregistered, you face the prospect of not getting the animal returned to you.”
Owners of pets not registered by April 10 could be fined $282 and the animal seized.
New state legislation, also effective April 10, will raise registration fees for undesexed dogs to $116.50.
Desexed dogs will cost $37 to register.
Undesexed cats will cost $59 to register compared with $21 for desexed animals.
Registration forms are available at the council website
