For many years I have been trapping cats and giving them to (WA cat welfare organisation – name removed). I have been paying for the surgeries and have done so for many cats and they have been returned to the place where they were living.
(WA cat welfare organisation) have now told me they will not sterilise cats unless they are going to rehome them, citing the West Australian Cat Act 2011 as a reason for this.
Cats that are positive for FeLV or FIV, or cats that are just too wild to be rehomed are now being euthanased instead of being returned, even though the cats have people that are feeding them in a commercial setting.
Do you know if there is anything we can do?
The new WA cat laws require cats to be microchipped to a single owner, registered to an address and wear a collar. Most councils will introduce a two cat limit.
All of these details preclude TNR for cats in WA. Sadly, I am unsurprised that this group is no longer investing in desexing cats, who will likely later be rounded up by council, for falling foul of the new laws.
There are a currently indeterminable number of stray cats living in close proximity to humans in WA. This population could be as low as 100,000 or as high as 2 million. These aren’t ‘ferals’ but a human dependent, self-sustaining population of cats. The best hope they had for avoiding being impounding by a local council officer and killed in a pound, was cat welfare charities desexing them and supporting those people caring for them (community cat carers, industrial sites and retail & restaurant locations).
Except now – thanks to these new laws – these cat welfare groups are not.
The cat groups who supported these laws have thrown unowned cats under the bus, to ensure they have future funding via council contracts and animal welfare grants. For their moment in the spotlight, they’ve condemned hundreds of thousands of cats to death.
Cats who have owners matter. Cats who generate income matter.
Cats who are neither able to be adopted out, nor can be used for a publicity opportunity with the Premier – simply don’t matter.
See also: WA Cat Laws; the truth starts to seep through the spin
Slightly off topic: The rule requiring cats to be microchipped “to a single owner” – where does this put big rescue groups (I’m thinking particularly AWL and RSPCA), where animals are microchipped and held in temporary care until rehomed?