Wandering Cats
Cats are highly valued pets in Australia; around 23% of households own have a cat. They adapt well to our lifestyles and can provide great companionship for people. However, problems can occur if cats are allowed to roam outdoors, and to trespass onto private property.
Roaming cats can get hit by cars, injured in fights, infected with diseases (e.g. feline AIDS) or become disorientated and not find their way home. Cats can also annoy neighbours by spraying, fighting, yowling and digging in gardens.
In an effort to combat roaming owned cats and promote responsible cat ownership, the Mornington Peninsula Shire has a 24/7 cat curfew, so cats must be contained to the owner's property at all times.
What to do if you have a wandering cat in your neighbourhood
Try to establish whether the cat has an owner or if it is a stray. Watch the cat and try to establish where it resides or ask your neighbours to help identify where the cat comes from. Generally, owned cats are friendly and will sometimes come up to you or near you. Stray cats tend be timid and afraid of human interaction and are often unapproachable.
If you find where the cat lives, you can approach the owner and explain the problem. The owner may not be aware of the situation.
If the owner is unapproachable or you are not comfortable approaching them, you can fill out the “Dear Neighbour” letter on page 5 of our Wandering Cat booklet and put it into their letter box. This will often resolve the problem.
If you can't identify where the cat lives, or you've spoken with the owner and the problem continues, you can request to hire a cat trap.
Hiring a cat trap
Residents can hire a cat trap from the Shire for a 2-week period to assist in containing a wandering cat. You can request a trap online or by contacting us. Cat traps are humane and do not harm the cat in any way.
To ensure the highest standards of animal welfare are maintained, we occasionally have to pause our cat trap hire program if there is no space available for incoming cats at the Community Animal Shelter and Pound. These pauses are usually brief, and you will be advised if your request is received while we're on pause.
Some important things to note about cat trapping:
- When the trap is delivered, a person aged 18 or over must be home to sign the cat trap agreement
- Traps can only be set from Sunday to Thursday
- Trapped cats cannot be collected on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays and the trap must not be used
- Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 and various industry Codes of Practice, the handling and treatment of the cat is the responsibility of the person trapping.