A better way forward for community cats in South Australia
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Community cat programs have been proven to reduce cat intake and euthanasia rates for councils, improve health outcomes for cats, and provide accessible veterinary care to the broader community caring for and feeding them.
One organisation achieving incredible results through its community cat program, established in 2021, is PetRescue member shelter Bendigo Animal Relief Centre (BARC), operated by the City of Greater Bendigo.
PetRescue spoke with BARC’s Operations Manager, Fra Atyeo, who oversees services, animal management, staff, and strategic direction at the shelter, and liaises with the state government on legislative changes.
The introduction of BARC’s desexing program
BARC’s Community Cat Program, initially introduced in 2021, aimed to reduce the number of undesexed owned and community cats in the local area, in a way that’s accessible to anyone who is either a cat’s guardian or feeding an urban stray cat.
“There are plenty of people who want to desex their cats and have barriers to doing that, so the Community Cat Program was something we introduced to reduce those barriers. We wanted to enable people to get their cats desexed if that's what they wanted, and the truth is, nearly everybody does want their cat desexed.” Fra shares.
The program began with support from the National Desexing Network shortly after BARC was established in 2019, offering $50 desexing vouchers to eligible residents. While maintaining this service, BARC transitioned to its own community cat program in 2021, based on the successful model established in Banyule in 2013, spearheaded by Jennifer Cotterell.
BARC’s community cat programs run alongside its Last Litter desexing program for dogs, which allows dog guardians whose dog has recently had puppies to have both the mother and puppies desexed for a flat rate of $75, provided the puppies are surrendered to BARC to find homes.
Ivy, adopted thanks to Bendigo Animal Relief Centre.
What does the program involve?
The shelter continues to offer the National Desexing Network’s services, along with free microchipping for residents accessing the program. Pet guardians can choose from four participating veterinary providers and are required to drop off and collect their cat on the day of surgery.
BARC’s own desexing program works on a different model, offering high-volume cat desexing. After testing various approaches to this service, this method proved most cost-effective, while still providing the cats with the quality of care they need. It requires cat guardians or carers to drop off cats at the vet the afternoon before surgery so health checks can be completed. Following surgery, cats stay overnight at the shelter to recover. The next morning, they receive a final vet check before being discharged. Many of these cats are community cats, so staying the extra night to recover in a safe and contained environment is essential for the proper healing of their stitches.
Over 1,000 kitties prevented from an uncertain future
In the five years that BARC’s desexing programs have been running, an incredible 500 cats have been desexed through the National Desexing Network and approximately 600 more through BARC’s Community Cat Program.
Since opening in 2019, the shelter has recorded a 23% reduction in stray cat and kitten intake. More recently, since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, BARC has reported a 40% drop in stray and surrendered kitten numbers.
“We've already noticed remarkable changes to our admission numbers; the sheer number of cats we are desexing is making a huge difference in the number of kittens we are seeing! The first year that we operated BARC, the first kitten season in the summer of 2019, we literally kept running out of cages. There were just kittens everywhere. We were converting rabbit and guinea pig housing into kitten housing. Every staff member had litters of kittens at home with them; it was shocking. Now, we've got three rooms in our quarantine space. This year, we've just been able to have one room as a kitten room, and it hasn't once been full for this kitten season just gone,” Fra shares.
In addition to the lower intake numbers, Bendigo’s Animal Management Officers are receiving far fewer call-outs to collect cats, and many cats that come into the shelter are already microchipped and registered by the program, allowing them to be easily reunited with their guardian free of charge.
Crispy Marshmallow, adopted thanks to Bendigo Animal Relief Centre.
Positive outcomes for communities, councils and cats
Fra highlights the importance of pets on their humans’ wellbeing and mental health, and how the community cat program helps to promote and enable positive pet guardianship.
“Pets benefit everyone and aren't just there for those people who can financially afford it. Sometimes it's those who are struggling financially and have other challenges within the community, challenges such as social relationships and employment. Potentially, they're the ones who need a pet more than the rest of us. So, we can benefit the community by making positive pet ownership more achievable for all because they know they can have their pet, and they can feel better about it.
For example, they know that their cat isn't having kittens. If their cat disappears, it's got a microchip to get back home to them, it's registered, so if it gets impounded, it’ll go home free of charge on the first day. One of the biggest things we see is the financial barrier to keeping pets with their owners, so we’ve removed that financial barrier, and made it so that if their pet ends up in the shelter, they can collect them for free.”
The desexing program has also improved relationships between carers of community cats and their neighbours by reducing the number of cats displaying problem behaviours such as spraying, and decreasing stress in owned indoor cats due to fewer roaming cats nearby.
Thanks to the program, the council has seen reduced costs, fewer Animal Management Officers needing to collect and impound cats, and fewer cat complaints from local residents.
For cats themselves, “desexed cats are less likely to wander, they tend to live longer, they have less behavioural issues and less medical concerns,” Fra highlights.
Teddy, adopted thanks to Bendigo Animal Relief Centre.
Advice for other councils
Fra encourages other councils considering establishing a desexing program to be patient to see results, but also reassures them that it may not take as long as they may think to see solid results and benefits for all stakeholders;
“For us, it only took three years to start seeing benefits and about five years until you're then in front financially. I think a lot of people want something really quick, and you can't just implement a desexing program, desex fifty cats and expect to see that on your books next year; it doesn't work like that. You've got to go in hard, you've got to be proper about it, and you've got to be committed, but it works, and it's the only thing that works. You need to give the community what they need, and that is getting their cats desexed.”
It’s exciting to see organisations like BARC paving the way for a better future for cats and the people who care for them. We can’t wait to see more councils and shelters establishing community cat programs in the future.
Read about other progressive councils doing awesome work.
Are you a cat-loving member of the community who wants to create positive change?
Firstly, you can look out for, and support groups doing desexing of community cats in your local area, or even bring these folks together to start your own community cat desexing program!
Want to see a free cat desexing program in your Local Government area? Send this article to your local council.
Are you from a council and want to create positive change for cats and their guardians?
You can share this paper and its findings with upper management at your council: Impacts of a Local Government Funded Free Cat Sterilisation Program for Owned and Semi-owned Cats.
Additionally, you can reach out to relevant non-profit organisations and vet clinics in your area to start the discussion around collaborating to create a community cat program or even start a local stakeholder working group.
Learn more about starting a community cat program here.
Are you from a council in Victoria? There are desexing grants available to you, click here to learn more and apply.
Banner image: Denahi, adopted thanks to Bendigo Animal Relief Centre.
