Broken teeth, missing ear: Rescue organisation finds population boom in Rokeby after animals killed

A shocking act of animal cruelty in Rokeby has forced one local cat rescue organisation into action to save more than 80 cats before the population is out of control. How you can help:

One of the cats rescued from the Annabelle Street Area in Rokeby. Picture: supplied.

A shocking act of animal cruelty has forced one local cat rescue organisation into action to save more than 80 cats before the population is out of control.

Dodges Ferry cat rescue and shelter Birchgrove Feline Assistance receives call-outs or social media tips from around Tasmania for stray, abandoned or injured animals.

Birchgrove chairwoman Carly Archer said that the latest call was a particularly distressing one when Rokeby residents said multiple cats had been killed and laid out in Annabelle St.

“Last week, somebody had killed multiple cats and laid them up on the street,” she said.

“A lot of people were obviously distraught about it, so we went out and collected the cats and got it reported, but we realised after speaking to a lot of the neighbours that it’s a big problem.

One of the cats rescued from the Annabelle Street Area in Rokeby. Picture: supplied.

“There’s some people that are very unhappy about it and taking it into their own hands, which is really horrible, so we need to try and do what we can.”

The volunteer-run charity has now begun the painstaking task of trapping and collecting the cats in the neighbourhood in an attempt to prevent the cats from breeding further.

One resident told Birchgrove volunteers they had counted over 76 cats in Annabelle St.

“We need to get them in, get them rehabilitated and desexed, have all their vet work done and ideally, get them all into homes, which is a long process,” Ms Archer said.

“Although they’re humanised, they’re not domesticated – they’re kind of those middle-ground ones that are going to need quite a lot of TLC and a lot of love to get them ready for homes.”

Ms Archer said one cat picked up on Sunday night had broken teeth and was missing an ear.

The congregation of cats is a widespread problem Ms Archer said, with human intervention usually the cause of cats grouping in small areas.

One of the cats rescued from the Annabelle Street Area in Rokeby. Picture: supplied.

“In this situation, we have been made aware that somebody has been feeding them for the last 12 years at least, so they are being supported to continue breeding and everything by humans and being well fed,” she said.

“A lot of people do this with really good intentions.”

While Birchgrove has long-term plans to develop a facility in Clarence to take on surrenders and help treat cats, Ms Archer said the charity hopes to gain some short-term assistance to ensure they can rescue all of the cats in Rokeby.

“We need to focus on really small areas at a time and make sure we get to the root of the problem in each area one by one, so that is difficult and it’s going to cost a lot of money,” she said.

“We’re known for taking on big situations and taking in 30 and 40 cats at a time, but we can’t do that without our foster teams also.”

To donate or apply to foster with Birchgrove Feline Assistance, head to their website.

Originally published as Broken teeth, missing ear: Rescue organisation finds population boom in Rokeby after animals killed