‘Help us sterilise 1 000 feral cats,’ say local animal activists
Kitten dumps have increased exponentially in Durban in recent months. This has prompted Cats of Durban founder, Niki Moore, to initiate a project to sterilise 1 000 cats in 100 days.
“DURBAN has seen a population explosion of stray cats over the last year,” said Cats of Durban founder, Niki Moore, last week. It has been the worst season in terms of kitten dumps that she had ever witnessed. Durban North, uMhlanga and surrounding areas are no exception, she added.
In response, the organisation will embark on an ambitious campaign to sterilise 1 000 stray and feral cats within a matter of 100 days, starting on Friday, 31 July.
Moore blamed the escalating issue on ‘irresponsible pet owners’ who fail to sterilise their cats and then dump them when they are no longer wanted, as well as the country’s current economic slump. “When people are low on funds pets are often the first ‘expense’ to be eliminated,” said Moore.
“This has caused a lot of problems when stray cats invade homes and businesses in search of food, but it has also been extremely distressing for animal lovers, as unwanted cats are vulnerable to starvation and abuse,” she added. Sterilisation, she said, has been the only method available to curb the feral population.
On average a female cat can birth four to five kittens per litter, and can fall pregnant up to five times a year.
Essentially the campaign can spare thousands of kittens from being born into a world of potential abuse and starvation.
“We call on all animal lovers, or anyone who wants to help us prevent cruelty to kittens, to sponsor a spay (R350 per cat). If we can get one thousand people to sponsor one spay each, we can sterilise most of the feral cats in Durban. We have teams of trappers who go out and catch the cats and then return the sterilised cats to their colonies. With funding, we can do this in 100 days. Simply removing the cats is not the answer, as within a few months new cats move in and the cycle begins again,” she said.
Cats of Durban is an association of volunteers who care for the well being of the stray and feral cats in the city.
The association acts as a network between the various Durban feral organisations, such as the Feral Cat Rescue Trust.
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