Golden Plains Shire is emphasising the importance of animal welfare, calling on residents to register their cats and keep vaccinations up to date. With a nationwide shortage of cat vaccines, local shelters are no longer accepting unvaccinated cats.
Recently, the animal shelters Golden Plains Shire Council has contracts with have advised they are unable to accept cats whose vaccinations are not up to date. As a result, Council officers cannot take cats to an animal shelter and Council has no holding facilities for wandering or abandoned cats. If Council officers cannot locate the cat’s owner, the cat cannot be retained after business hours.
To address this issue, Council encourages cat owners to:
- Keep their cat indoors wherever possible.
- Update registration and microchip details
- Ensure their cat is wearing its Council registration tag at all times.
- Consider desexing their cat.
- Considering installing an outdoor enclosure for cats accustomed to being outdoors.
Mayor Cr Brett Cunningham said the best way to ensure residents are swiftly reunited with their lost felines is to ensure registration is up to date.
We are asking cat owners to check their cat’s registration details and ensure your phone number and your emergency contact’s phone number are current,” Cr Cunningham said.
When your cat is scanned for their microchip, Council’s community safety officers can look up the microchip and if your cat is registered, Council officers will have your details readily available so that you can be contacted and reunited you with your cat,” he said.
Council offers a range of incentives for cat owners including reduced registration fees for people with cat enclosures and a subsided cat desexing program for eligible residents. I encourage cat owners to visit Council’s website and see what’s available.”
Due to the cat vaccine shortage, Council has also suspended its cat trapping services, effective immediately. People with a cat trap are asked to cease using the traps and return these to Council as soon as possible. Cat trapping services will resume when contracted animal shelters resume accepting cats again.
For more information about cats in Golden Plains Shire, visit goldenplains.vic.gov.au/resident/pets-and-animals/cats or contact the Customer Experience team by emailing [email protected] or call 5220 7111.