Dandenong: Feral cat explosion with cat curfew floated
Dandenong is being invaded. But there is no need to call in the army, this ‘attacker’ is more of a threat to native birds than to our way of life.
South East
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Dandenong has a serious wild cat problem with more than 50,000 feral felines plaguing the suburb.
And while there are 3500 registered cats in the suburb, they are heavily outnumbered by their rogue brothers and sisters.
The council is now toying with the idea of introducing a cat curfew, with residents able to borrow cat traps to ping ferals.
Greens councillor Rhonda Garad told the Leader: “I’ll be pushing very hard for it (a cat curfew).”
“We know that we’ve seen an explosion in the feral cat population during Covid.”
Cr Garad said cats were starting to impact the native bird population in Dandenong.
The council confirmed more than 260 cat traps have been used in the past year.
Mayor Angela Long said feral cats “have been a problem for a while.”
“You have to be a responsible pet owner,” Cr Long said.
She said residents were able to lease cat traps from the council, which were entirely refunded once a cat had been caught, adding kitten season was fast approaching.
Jody Bosman, director of city planning at Dandenong, said a curfew was being considered under an animal management policy.
Dandenong’s intentions come after the Knox Council in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs has postponed its intention to impose a cat curfew.
Mr Bosman said he expected the results of a community consultation survey to be tabled to council by October.