By Alesha Capone
ANIMAL carers across Wyndham have urged residents not to purchase kittens this Christmas unless they are serious about keeping them, as the area’s stray feline problem grows.
Last month, Star reported Wyndham City Council impounds about 1100 cats every 12 months, with only five per cent identified through a tag or microchip.
In trapping projects throughout the year in Laverton North, Hoppers Crossing and Werribee, the council has “removed” more than 100 unidentified cats.
Practice manager of Greencross Vets in Hoppers Crossing, Alison Pengelly, said boxes of kittens were often left on their doorstep before and after Christmas.
“This year we had a box of six and a box of eight, about three weeks ago,” she said.
“We re-home a lot of them, unless there’s a problem, such as they’re very sick or have eye problems or they’re really stand-offish, and hiss when people go near them.
“The Werribee stray cat population is out of control, it’s shocking. There are lots of wild cats.”
Nurse Kim Bowden from the Point Cook Animal Hospital said they received many kittens each year, who they tried to find families for.
“A lot of the ones we get are very very young, so they don’t make it,” she said.
“I can tell you, we can’t always find them homes.”
Ms Bowden said anyone who purchased kittens for Christmas needed to get them desexed, as well as microchipped.
“I can’t stress enough how important it is to get them micro-chipped,” she said.
Hoppers Crossing veterinarian Kristi Green said cats could be desexed between the ages of four to six months.
Laverton Veterinary Clinic nurse Melanie said her clinic had also taken in five stray kittens over the past few weeks.
“Two were found by the road after their mother had been hit by a car,” she said.
“The problem is people are not desexing cats, so strays breed and that results in more kittens.”
