Thanks to those who agree that getting vets to scan is a good idea (and I hope everyone's signed the petition at Vets Get Scanning (vetsgetscanning.co.uk) and posted comments at MyMoggy (mymoggy.com), and has written to their vets to find out whether they do this -- remind them that scanning all animals seen for the first time is BSAVA and RCVS good practice -- and to try to persuade them to if they don't). I'll have a petition Vets Get Scanning Cat Too available online for signing in the next couple of weeks so hope you'll all sign!
Vets do point out that proper scanning takes a little longer than 10 seconds (because microchips, especially badly implanted ones, do wander) -- but they should be doing this even if it takes a whole couple of minutes!
Thanks for the tip on HelpMeFindMyPet (and I know already DogLost is a great site).
I agree microchips are the key -- but how to spread the word (and not just to pet owners but to pet finders? Allegedly stray cats get `adopted' and the finder makes a token effort to find the owner but never thinks to have it scanned)?