ANNA GOLOVANEVSKAYA

May 11, 2012

Cat Haven in Shenton Park has reported a drop in the number of cats and kittens dumped on its doorstep.

Foster care coordinator Freedom Bradbury said the past 10 years had seen the number of homeless cats and kittens gradually drop from 13,000 to 8000.

Orphaned kitten

“I’m optimistic that the breeding season starting this year will be even lower numbers,” Ms Bradbury said.

She said the reasons for the decline included low-cost sterilisation offered by the shelter and a number of vet clinics.

“People are starting to really recognise the scope of the problem that we are dealing with and so more people are coming on board to try to help and there’s been a really positive response,” she said.

Cat Haven offers pay-plans for sterilisation costs and transport for cats from and to their homes, to cut down excess kittens.

Pet City Willetton manager Karen Muzyka said the store was offered a lot less unwanted kittens during breeding season in September to March.

“Every kitten that we sell, we stress the importance of getting them sterilised to the customer,” she said.

Unused cat kennels at the shelter

Cat Haven was recently donated about $700,000 when an elderly woman died and left her house in Trigg to the shelter.

“For quite a while we have been hoping to rebuild all or part of the shelter and do a full upgrade of our clinic so that we’ve got better facilities for sterilisation,” Ms Bradbury said.

“That donated money is going to be the starting point of the funding and fund-raising to rebuild in a couple of years.”

Unsterilised female cats are at a greater risk of cancer and unsterilised males are exposed to infectious diseases by fighting with other males.

The price of sterlisation at Cat Haven starts at $145 for females and $115 for males. Discounts are available for cats owned by pensioners and health care card holders.

Photos: Anna Golovanevskaya