January 8, 2010Comments are closed.cats
In December a Parramatta cat colony hit the media, as the council called for their removal, despite them having a community of cat lovers caring for their welfare.
… a Telopea business owner said cats had been around the area for years without anyone worrying about them.
“But someone who doesn’t like cats has moved into the area and is making a fuss,” the business owner said.
Since the story ran, the lady who is the main carer of the colony has been receiving threats, even though her compassionare efforts are moving the colony in the right direction.
Kat, who does not want to be further identified, fears for her safety as she continues to care for the cat colony.
While she has moved out of the area, Kat regularly returns to Telopea to trap cats, have them desexed, immunised and treated if ill.
Those who have not been rehoused are returned to the area.
The cost of veterinary treatment is borne by the World League for the Protection of Animals, which is committed to keeping unwanted animals alive.
“People dump their cats when they move out and five years ago there were more than 80 cats roaming around but I calculate that now there are 30 to 40 and most have been desexed,” Kat told the Advertiser this week.
“There are only about six to eight cats breeding and I have been trying to trap them. We try to find homes for cats but the cats we bring back are cared for by residents who love them. There are only a couple of residents who don’t like the cats.”
But the cat-loving residents admit they are defying a Housing Department directive to not feed the cats.
Kat said the cats provided companionship to older residents and also controlled rats in the area.
“If they are desexed and looked after, they do not cause anyone any harm,” Kat said.
With shelters bursting with kittens this month, if a small team of cat lovers can halve a cat colony without a cat being killed, why are animal welfare leaders not leaping to support the initiative? If not financially in this particular instance, lending their name to support the idea that cats, owned or unowned are protected under the law and must not be targeted for removal.
Because until they do, compassionate people like Kat who are going above and beyond to humanely solve a problem that they didn’t create, will remain on the fringes and continue to be the target of cat hater’s abuse.
