By Esther Lauaki
Wyndham council has terminated the contract of well known snake catcher Stewart Gatt.
Mr Gatt has for the past four years been one of a handful of snake catchers contracted by the council to provide a free service for residents.
Mr Gatt’s contract was recently terminated for a number of breaches including incorrect reporting of call-outs and what he said were “clerical errors” he made on invoices.
“There were about half a dozen invoices that were incorrect and, once we were made aware of them, those were fixed up,” he told Star Weekly.
“I was told by a DELWP wildlife officer that I did not have to record the removal of blue-tongued lizards but Wyndham council was advised otherwise and this was also seen as a breach of contract.”
Mr Gatt said in another instance, he had failed to report to wildlife authorities that an injured Python he collected from Point Cook had died.
“I used to have a full time job, but I gave up that job in order to service the Wyndham community 24 hours, seven days a week,” he said.
“Wyndham council was about 70 per cent of my business and we were catching 500 snakes a year.
“This is unfortunate because there aren’t that many snake catchers in Wyndham … there are a lot of novices who haven’t got the experience that I do.
“Up until the day my contract was terminated, I was working really hard to offer new ideas to the council to improve the free snake catching service in Wyndham.”
Wyndham council uses one contractor that employs at least three snake catchers to service the area.
Mr Gatt still provides snake catching services for Hobsons Bay and Brimbank councils.
He said he would continue to operate his business privately in Wyndham.
Wyndham city amenity and safety manager Richard Maugueret said the termination of Mr Gatt’s contract would not limit or impact the delivery of the service to the community.
To access the free council service, residents should call 9742 0777.
