Plateau Dr, Wollongbar residents in Ballina Shire worried about notes threatening to catch roaming cat in rabbit trap, make pet disappear

Residents of a northern NSW street have raised concerns after receiving menacing letters about catching a cat in a rabbit trap and making the pet disappear. Now, a cat owner has spoken out.

Residents in Wollongbar are concerned for the welfare of their pet cats.

Residents of a northern NSW street have raised concerns after receiving menacing letters about catching a roaming cat in a rabbit trap and making the pet disappear.

The anonymous letter found throughout the neighbourhood on Plateau Dr at Wollongbar in recent days has some worried about a potential “cat killer”.

One of the notes posted to Facebook reads: “I’ve set rabbit traps for the cat that is killing birds in our backyard. Soon as I catch that cat that cat is gone …”

The RSPCA has not received any cruelty reports, but said inhumane traps used on animals were all too prevalent, while police have not yet become involved.

A photo of the letter which Kalinda Bergmann posted to social media. Picture: Facebook

Ballina Shire Council encourages cat owners to keep them inside at night.

“Nuisance” cats killing native wildlife can be trapped, according to the council, but the pets “must be returned to its owner or to Council’s ranger as soon as possible”.

Resident and hotel worker Kalinda Bergmann, 32, took to a community social media page with a photo of the handwritten note she said she received at her Plateau Dr home on Thursday evening.

Ms Bergmann asked if anyone else got a similar letter and said the only reason her cat named Romeo liked to go outside was to bath in the sun, and he did not stray from home.

Beloved pet Romeo basking in the sun. Picture: Kalinda Bergmann

“I own a cat but he is mostly indoors, he is a purebred ragdoll,” she wrote on the Alstonville Wollongbar Community Info Notice Board on Facebook.

“If this person has a problem with my cat, couldn’t they just come and talk to us?

“My eight-year-old daughter found this in the mailbox and now thinks someone is going to kill our cat. She won’t stop crying.”

Speaking to this publication, Ms Bergmann said: “The letter came to me as a shock because we live in such a peaceful beautiful safe area.”

“I thought our community was friendly and kind,” she said.

A rabbit trap. File image. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Another woman said three of her cats previously disappeared in the area.

“I always suspected there’s a cat killer in Wollongbar … (the letter) is a threat and that’s not OK,” she wrote.

“Seems that person has nothing better to do with their time. Sorry your daughter had to read this.”

Other residents confirmed they received similar notes – one reporting: “I live in Plateau Drive I got one as well and I don’t even have a cat”.

Plateau Drive, Wollongbar.

A woman who wrote that she volunteered for a Northern Rivers wildlife service encouraged those impacted to contact the council.

“That is cruelty,” she said.

NSW Police were not aware “of any such letter” and were not able to provide further information, a spokesman said. Residents can make a report about the letters.

RSPCA NSW has not received a cruelty report, a spokesperson confirmed, but they did speak about the prevalence of animals being caught in cruel traps.

They said “every year our inspectors attend numerous amounts of jobs in relation to steel jaw traps being set and injuring animals, illustrating their painful and prevalent use”.

“It is illegal to set a steel jaw trap or possess a steel jaw trap with the intention of setting,” they said of the law.

RSPCA warned individuals can be fined up to $5500 and spent up to six months behind bars.

More information is being sought, including from Ballina Shire Council.