The Save Community Cats rally and movement evolved from a collaboration of rescuers seeing the need to raise recognition of independent rescuers and carers. These individuals and groups provide care for community cats. Cats who were once pets and most likely have been recently abandoned to the streets, parks, buildings in urban and peri urban areas.
The APWF estimate there are many thousands of rescuers & carers saving many thousands more of community cats across NSW.
Many of us have had the opportunity to raise issues and recommendations to the New South Wales government under Inquiries and Reviews.
Yet lack of recognition and support for the efforts by thousands of people across the state, and the mainly negative views of “stray” cats encouraged us to step up and raise our voices for community cats with a rally and a request to meet with Minister Ron Hoenig.
We may not be able to formally own each and every one of these cats, but our hearts and lives are bonded with these animals. These cats are technically termed semi own.
We were also concerned that the advice of domestic cat experts may not be followed. We strongly support the work of the following leaders in cat welfare, and more organisations who support all cats.
- the Animal Justice Party,
- the Australian Pet Welfare Foundation and their community cat programs and critical research,
- the Cat Protection Society and their desexing programs, and
- the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and their Keeping Cats Safe at Home desexing programs funded by the NSW government.
We question the overstated estimates of cat impacts to wildlife in urban and peri urban areas as with analysis these are based on feral cat studies with layers of assumptions and generalised estimates. We support localised research in the near future and to assist with proactive solutions, such as promoting and assisting cat owners with cat containment strategies where possible.
The rally was instigated by members of
- Protect All Cats, Kayt, Kayla and Gabriel, and
- Love Rescue Collaborate, Deborah.
And once initiated, the numbers of supporters grew. We knew it was extremely difficult to select a day and time convenient for many to attend, when most rescuers & carers are volunteers who have a “day job” or often a “weekend job”, and it is their “spare” time to care and feed community cats. Our rally was always a collaborative event to represent the many thousands across the NSW state.
Save Community Cats 