Monash City Council (Victoria) has 5,461 registered cats, 98% of which are de-sexed despite it currently not being a requirement in the City*.
They are currently reviewing amongst other things, mandatory desexing. Because cat owners = irresponsible. Don’t be fooled by the figures which show practically all of them are doing the right thing and desexing their pets, they are still irresponsible and it’s a situation that can only be rectified by MOARE LAWS.
Defending changes to this and a number of other local laws, Monash Mayor Geoff Lake this week criticised 3AW radio host Neil Mitchell when he queried the proposal to ban people from feeding uncaged animals;
Cr Lake said the law aimed to deal with the widespread problem of feral cats.
By simply calling the animals they’re planning to kill ‘feral’, they secure themselves a free-pass to slaughter that no one will question. Even when those animals have absolutely no likelihood of actually being feral. Like in cities. Like in the City of Monash.
Monash City boasts that it is one of the “most populous municipalities in Melbourne”, with trends towards “higher density dwelling development”. In short, it is very, very, very unlikely a single feral cat resides there. But what it lacks in truly feral cats – those cats who don’t rely on humans – it makes up for in suburban strays.
But killing those strays – black and white cats tuxedo cats who sometimes quite like a pet behind the ears from their friends, and long haired torties who hangout around the local coffee shops – generates extremely negative community sentiment. So these cats are rebranded ‘feral’.
Monash also claims it prides itself on engaging in “best practice in its animal management activities”. However, the detail most people would consider to be integral to any ‘best practice’ facility – a drive to lower kill rates – seems absent from their adminstration. While cities around Monash work successfully to bring down their kill rates, at Monash between 2007 and 2012 the number of cat euthanised by the city increased by 23%.
And how has it achieved such dizzying heights of ‘best practice’… ness?
They’ve simply declared war on suburban stray – oops I mean feral – cats. Council allocates resources trapping in areas where cats are known to be found. They also give cat traps to people who want to assist in harvesting cats for disposal, with Council’s Domestic Animal Management Plan outlining plans to increase the number of traps available.
Not content to rest on their laurels just killing cats brought into the pound, the city is now looking to work to see cats who are receiving care out in the community, to also be brought in for disposal. In 2015 Council will introduce the Local Law to make it an offence to feed stray animals.
“It’s not okay for people to promote and feed and look after feral cats in a suburban area,” (Mayor Lake) said.
That’s right villainous animal lovers who dare to give a hungry cat a little bit of food; YOU are the problem. With all that looking after cats you’re doing, you’re interfering with Councils ‘best practice’ efforts to escalate trapping and maximise killing.
Knowing that one four cat owners (based on figures from Monash University) are feeding a cat they don’t own, there are approximately 1,400 cats who will need to be impounded.
Most will not be candidates for adoption because, remember… ‘feral’.
In 2007, the city killed 394 cats (48% of intakes)
In 2012, the city killed 486 cats (60% of intakes)
Based on the projections the city could boast best practice killing of anything up to 840 cats – or a more than 110% increase on the current ‘best practice’. Shoot for the stars you guys!
If you are a tax payer of the City and would like to see your money spent on something OTHER than killing cats, I suggest writing to the Mayor with some constructive suggestions about how a ‘best practice’ pound actually operates. He can be reached through his website www.GeoffLake.com.au
If you would like to ask the Victoria RSPCA just what the hell they’re doing as the pound operator, and to tell the City that taking in even more cats is not what they should be aiming for, or that they should at the very least be asking the question – just how is a cat’s welfare effected if it’s being starved to death under threat of council fines?, they can be reached through the usual channels.
