Free cat desexing = a win for cats, councils and communities

In Australia, it is currently illegal for a pet-loving resident to take a community cat to be desexed or microchipped. 

Instead, our flawed legislation means that reported cats must be trapped and taken to a council facility, where their future is uncertain.

However, the success of a free cat desexing program run by the Banyule City Council in Victoria, is paving the way for a better future for our communities, including our feline friends. 

We spoke to Jennifer Cotterell, the driving force behind Banyule’s Cat Desexing Program and primary author of the recently published paper Impacts of a Local Government Funded Free Cat Sterilization Program for Owned and Semi-owned Cats, about the findings and what it means for the welfare of cats and the wellbeing of the people who care for and work with them.

Jennifer has over 20 years of experience as a Senior Animal Management Officer (AMO). Before that, she spent a decade working in various shelters and council facilities. Jennifer has joined forces with Professor Jacquie Rand from the Australian Pet Welfare Foundation to build on her Banyule learnings and get the word out about how effective these programs can be. 
 

What did the program involve?

The paper examined data from the free cat desexing program run in the City of Banyule from 2013 to 2021. The program was first introduced in three low socio-economic areas in the region with the highest number of cat-related complaints and intake and then later expanded city-wide. 

The council-funded program provided free desexing, microchipping, and registration for cat guardians and individuals looking after urban stray cats. Eligibility required that the caregivers had the cat microchipped and registered under their name. Jennifer and the animal management team also provided free transport to and from desexing appointments to ensure everyone had access to the program.

Jennifer and the team worked on developing supportive relationships with their community, shifting from the traditional, reactive and enforcement-centric approach of animal management, to proactively engaging with and supporting Banyule’s cat guardians to commit to taking full ownership of the now desexed and vaccinated cats. 

The program also took some big leaps in breaking down barriers to much-loved community cats becoming much-loved registered pets. The Banyule team removed cat ownership limits and largely stopped trapping cats outside the program entirely!
 

Why is the traditional method of trapping and impounding cats ineffective?

The current cat management approach of trapping and impounding cats that receive complaints is simply not working. 

Despite decades of trapping, impounding and killing of cats by councils, cat-related nuisance calls and impoundments continue to increase, and an estimated 50,000 healthy kittens and cats killed in council facilities and shelters each year. 

This widespread killing of cats who live alongside us negatively impacts the psychological wellbeing of staff in our council and shelter facilities, as well as within vet clinics. Trapping and killing cats who live alongside us is also damaging to the community members who care for these cats.

Under current management practices, the cats most vulnerable to dying in the system are the very same cats that well-run, free desexing programs target—undersocialised adult cats who don’t cope in shelters and are hard to rehome.

 

What were the paper’s findings?

 

 

In addition to these incredible results, the program resulted in a more collaborative, open relationship between councils and the public. The desexing program allowed AMOs to help people and cats directly, increasing their job satisfaction. The paper reported ‘a feeling of being empowered to provide proactive solutions to the community for cat-related issues, rather than engaging in reactive measures that resulted in feeling helpless and unable to effectively assist residents or their cats.’

 

How did this targeted cat desexing program help cats and humans?

When asked about the findings of the program, Jennifer says;

“For cats, it’s the improvement in their welfare; they're not breeding unnecessarily, but not only that, it's the best thing for the cat, for the public, for the residents who own the cats and have taken on semi-owned cats. It's helping them out financially and likely improving their health because their pets are a big part of their mental health.

Apart from this, the most significant benefit of the desexing program would be to the community. This includes all the relationships and partnerships built along the way with all different agencies and key people in the community (such as social workers) who are already out in the community going to the same properties that AMOs are going to. It's important to build those relationships and incorporate them into your programs.

It's interesting how many people started calling us for help, like when their animals had an illness or they needed advice, support, or help with their dog or cat. It helped turn AMOs from being seen as the person who comes to the door and does the enforcement to being seen as a service for the people, who can help them.” Jennifer says.

 

What was the financial impact?

From a purely financial perspective, community desexing programs are a cost-saving, long-term approach that allows tax-payer money to be used more effectively. While the total number of cats rehomed decreased by 66%, this was due to the significantly reduced number of cats entering council facilities. Having fewer cats requiring rehoming meant that the council was saving money in holding costs (including vet care), which is reported as $385 per cat per week, in addition to the savings associated with moving from responding to complaints and trapping cats. 

“We found that councils were spending close to $300 in costs to deal with a single cat complaint, which only covers customer service administration and animal management officer (AMO) costs, and doesn’t even take into account impound costs. If a good deal can be struck with a desexing service provider; it costs around $140 to get a cat desexed - it’s a much cheaper option for councils in the long run, and AMOs do not have to go back to the same properties and deal with the same issues that stem from cats not being desexed,” Jennifer says.

 

Looking forward to the future of cat management in Australian communities

Jennifer says about her hopes for the paper and its findings:

“I'd like to hope that more councils see the benefit of changing the way that they work with the community for better outcomes for animal welfare, that’ll be better for the community, better for relationships, partnerships and most importantly, better for the animals and better for the council.”

“I'd love to see community cat desexing programs implemented everywhere. They’re better for cats and communities, and are a result of people working together to improve outcomes for cats, human mental health and council cost savings.”

 

What can you, as a cat-loving member of the community do?

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.

 

What can you, as a person working for a local council do?

You can share the paper and its findings with upper management at your council. 

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.

 

What is targeted desexing?

Targeted, free cat desexing programs work with the community to identify areas in which high densities of cats live and reproduce. Cat management teams then find out who is caring for these cats and provide desexing and other services to them, so that they can become legal owners and provide their cats with ongoing care. 

These programs also work with rescue groups and shelters to rehome friendly cats into pet homes, and with the rest of the community to ensure that these cats are not creating nuisance issues for others. 

You can find out more about how these programs work here.

 

Cotterell, J.L.; Rand, J.; Barnes, T.S.; Scotney, R. Impacts of a Local Government Funded Free Cat Sterilization Program for Owned and Semi-owned Cats. Preprints 2024, 2024030588. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202403.0588.v1

 

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