Council’s cats out of the bag

By Kath Gannaway
YARRA Ranges councillors waded into the contentious issue of mandatory desexing of cats last week … but they kept to the shallows.
They unanimously supported a motion that cats not previously registered would not be accepted for registration after 10 April next year unless they were desexed or exempted.
Compulsory desexing was proposed as part of the shire’s Domestic Animal Management Plan adopted in October last year.
Councillors Samantha Dunn and Tim Heenan launched a strong case in favour of compulsory desexing including statistics from animal protection organisations that reported 53,000 cats lodged with animal welfare centres across Australia and 35,000 being euthanased.
“That’s a lot of unwanted cats and kittens out there preying on wildlife and I can see no reason why any responsible owner of a domestic moggie would not support desexing,” Cr Dunn said.
Cr Heenan said there had been substantial loss of wildlife in the Dandenongs over the years.
“I have no time for people who allow them to roam and if this is the way for those numbers to be controlled, I am for it,” he said.
The report from the shire’s planning, building and health department said that while most of the animal welfare organisations consulted, including the Victorian Animal Aid Trust at Coldstream, supported compulsory desexing of cats, the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) was against it.
Cats will be exempted based on veterinary advice, if they belong to a registered breeder, or pet shop, or if they are registered with an approved association. The exemptions provided a balance between the opposing arguments, the report said.
Debra Boland, of the Victorian Animal Aid Trust in Coldstream, said that while sher was pleased to see some movement on the issue, she was disappointed because the new laws didn’t go far enough.
“By only enforcing desexing on newly registered cats you are only going to get a few,” she said. “Our experience is that most cats that are registered are desexed anyway, and the number of cats registered is very small compared to dogs.”
Reclaim rates reflect registrations. Ms Boland said for every 100 dogs impounded at VAAT, 85 were claimed. For every 100 cats, between four and 11 were claimed by the owner.
Ms Boland argues that the requirement to have a new cat desexed may simply act as a disincentive for people to register a new cat.
A public information campaign will be launched to educate cat owners on the new laws.