Stray cats not cool

By Casey Neill
THE Shire of Yarra Ranges has joined a growing list of groups calling for the mandatory desexing of cats.
Yarra Ranges mayor Tim Heenan said the shire had a serious cat overpopulation problem.
He said the situation was being made worse by well-meaning people feeding the cats but not taking full responsibility for them and allowing them to continue to roam the neighbourhood.
“It’s simply a matter of realising that feeding stray cats may seem to be a kind act, but it really has major consequences for the environment we enjoy so much here in the Yarra Ranges,” Cr Heenan said.
Earlier this month he called for residents feeding stray cats to either have them registered and desexed or call the shire to have them impounded.
“Feeding unowned cats helps to multiply cat colonies by keeping cats alive and strong enough to reproduce, which has contributed to our serious cat overpopulation problem,” Cr Heenan said.
The shire’s draft domestic animal management plan has been released for public comment until 22 February and includes a proposal for compulsory desexing of cats.
“Stray cats are preying on our native wildlife, fighting with domesticated cats, and creating a nuisance,” Cr Heenan said.
The Victorian Animal Aid Trust (VAAT) in Coldstream has joined the Cat Crisis Coalition (CCC).
“It’s a chance for all shelters to say enough is enough,” the VAAT’s former general manager, Jo Boland, said.
The CCC is a group of leading Victorian animal welfare groups campaigning for legislation to make desexing mandatory for all cats aged over 12 weeks and not registered to a licensed breeder.
Their aim is to reduce the cat overpopulation and the number of cats destroyed each year.
VAAT is the shelter for the Yarra Ranges and Maroondah shires.
By law animal welfare shelters have to desex all animals.
Ms Boland said the problem was that pet shops were not subject to the same regulation.
She said the biggest problem was “backyard breeders” – those who bought a cat and did not have it desexed.
She said with the help of one other cat, that cat could turn into 49 in one year.
Ms Boland has written to the Yarra Ranges and Maroondah shires to recommend mandatory desexing.
She said the VAAT had had a lot of petitions and letters supporting the move.
“It is an emotive issue that people will take personally,” she said.
“They say ‘my animal is a good animal’, but I would like to think that more people would see the sense in reducing the number of animals that are killed.”
Ms Boland said implementing changes to the law would be difficult, “but you have to start somewhere”.
“We can’t keep doing this unless something is done to see change in the long term,” she said.
Cattery manager Lyn Bell dreads coming in to work on Mondays.
“It’s decision day for some of the cats if they’re been here for too long,” she said.
Ms Bell is scared she and other staff will get desensitised.
“It definitely has a huge impact upon staff and volunteers, on their emotional and mental well-being,” she said.
Victorian shelters receive 48,000 cats annually, according to the CCC.
Of those, 32,000 are destroyed, a figure the CCC said had remained constant for a decade.
To have a stray cat impounded, call the shire on 1300 368 333.
The shire’s draft domestic animal management plan can be accessed at its community links or at www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au.
If you would like to help CCC, call Lort Smith Animal Hospital on 9328 3021 or visit www.catcrisis.com.