Cat colony rescued

An animal rescue group is in desperate need of donations, after a colony of more than 70 cats was discovered at a business in the City of Rockingham.

9 Lives Cat Rescue was contacted by several members of the community through its Facebook page, who claimed they had seen a cat colony which appeared to be growing in numbers living around a local business — which the Sound Telegraph has agreed not to name.

Rescue group operations manager Natalie Mason said after receiving the messages, the group had arranged to help remove the cats and transition them all into foster homes.

“We believe the colony originated from people dumping and abandoning cats that are not sterilised and then they just breed from there, as the area has a small food source for them,” Ms Mason said.

“They will continue to breed, increasing their numbers, which leads to welfare issues. They will starve as there simply isn't enough food for them all, they can be injured from fighting each other and some have already been found hit by cars on the road.

“While there isn't much in the way of wildlife in that area due to land clearing, what is still there will also be impacted by the cats killing them.”

So far, 30 kittens have been caught, removed from the business and re-homed over the past six months.

“We would ideally like to have all the adult cats trapped and in care by the start of the next kitten season, October this year, but with so many and limited resources its likely to take six months to a year to get this colony sorted out,” Ms Mason said.

“We have reached out to 22 rescuers that take cats in Perth in an effort to make this project a collaboration for the welfare of the cats.

“So far we also have Perth Rescue Angels, Saving Animals from Euthanasia Inc. Perth, WA Pet Project and the Homeless and Abused Animal Rescue Team on board to take some of the cats and assist where they can.”

Ms Mason said the process of removing the cats safely was an important part of the project.

“The process involves using tasty food in humane cat traps so that when the cat goes in they trigger a foot plate to get the food and the cage door shuts behind them,” she said.

“We then transport them to their carers where they undergo socialisation, as these cats have only had some contact with humans and need to learn to trust them so that they can then find their forever homes.”

Ms Mason said the group would appreciate any donations from the community, to help deal with such a big colony.

She also said 9 Lives Cat Rescue also needed more foster carers to sign up, as as they could not trap the cats without someone for them to go to.

“We need cat food while we are trying to catch them all as establishing feeding stations makes the cats easier to trap,” she said.

“We also need money donated to cover their medical costs such as desexing, microchipping, flea treatments and worming.

“We really need community support via donations and people willing to take cats into their homes to foster or adopt, otherwise these cats will just continue to get out of control.”

The organisation has a drop-off point for food.

To receive the address email info@9livescatrescue.com.au.