By Fatima Halloum
The noise coming from the parkland outside Emanuel’s home is so vexing, the Tarneit resident is seriously considering moving houses.
He estimates there are about 60 feral cats living in the bushes, keeping him, and other residents awake with sounds of hissing and screeching.
“This issue has been going on for over five years,” he said.
“I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in years.”
Emanuel, who asked for his surname not to be published, said he isn’t usually the type of person to complain or whinge, but the situation has been exacerbated by people leaving cat food and attempting to feed the felines.
“They’re feeding the cats because they feel sorry for them, if they aren’t fed they think they’re gonna die, but cats know how to hunt ,“ he said.
“I’m an animal lover, however a lot of these cats carry diseases …these cats don’t look very well.“
A Wyndham council spokesperson said council officers had spoken to residents concerned about stray cats around Reflections Boulevard, and officers were continuing to monitor the situation.
Emanuel believes council should issue warnings to people not to feed stray cats, much like the displays positioned around the pond at the end of the boulevard informing people not to feed ducks and not to litter around the pond.
“The same thing should be with the cats, because they’ve been an issue for a number of years,” Emanuel said.
“They need to put a permanent sign out there.“
A council spokesperson said council officers would be conducting trapping programs in environmentally sensitive areas, provide education to the community and enforcing council’s local law, which prohibits feeding an animal that a person does not own.
“Feeding an unowned cat contributes to the increase in population, which affects our environment and can become a nuisance to the community,“ the spokesperson said.
Emanuel said the situation posed multiple environmental threats as well, as the cats have been sighted attacking ducks, and the food containers are often blown by the wind and can end up in nearby waterways.
“I don’t want the cats to be euthanised, in a perfect world, they could be re-homed, but the issue is they could spread these diseases onto the next cat, onto the next cat and onto the next cat,“ he said.
