A state first cat management strategy to encourage responsible ownership and support better welfare for cats and native wildlife has been announced by the state government.
Animal welfare organisations, such as the RSPCA will play a key role in the development of the strategy, to ensure more cats are desexed.
“Cats are beloved pets for many Victorians but also a threat to native wildlife and biodiversity – we need to ensure we’re best supporting the welfare of cats as well as our precious native wildlife,” Agriculture minister Mary-Anne Thomas said.
“While Victoria has high rates of registration and desexing, we also know that we have high numbers of unowned and feral cats. That’s why we are working to deliver the first cat management strategy.”
There are more than 224,000 registered cats in Victoria, with many more unregistered and unowned felines in urban and natural environments.
The state government says this can cause animal welfare and environmental issues, and challenges for local communities.
Victorians, including those living in Hume and Whittlesea, will also have the chance to share their views and ideas as part of public consultation.
Whittlesea council introduced the idea of a similar initiative in March of this year to better manage the municipality’s growing cat population.
