Desexing cats: Cat Protection Society of Victoria manager Emilea Harris issues plea to owners to desex cats | Exclusive

It was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

Emilea Harris, the shelter manager at The Cat Protection Society of Victoria rescue centre, had had enough.

A cat owner had just abandoned his six-month-old kitten because he was going on holiday.

While he placed the cat in the hands of a shelter, and not left it at home or on the street to fend for itself, his actions and the overall disposable nature of pets by society led Harris to do something she had never done before – put her name to a public post on The Cat Protection Society of Victoria’s Facebook page.

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The lengthy post, which went up just over a week ago, has since been viewed more than 80,000 times, and drew a big response from Facebook users.

It also opened a conversation about the cat and kitten crisis that has left shelters in Victoria and across the country overwhelmed by unwanted felines.

A veterinary nurse for 16 years, Harris told 9honey Pets she first joined The Cat Protection Society of Victoria to run its vet clinic before taking up the role of shelter manager.

She usually prefers to “to work quietly in the background”, but just over a week ago, Harris wrote a post drawing attention to irresponsible cat ownership, which resulted in “an overwhelming flood of cats and kittens” in recent months.

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Each spring and autumn, ‘kitten season’ means the shelter and others across the country receive an influx of unwanted kittens and cats.

This year has been worse, with kitten season extending even longer.

“Kitten season this year seems to be going on forever,” Harris said. 

Then about a week ago, exhausted from people walking in unannounced to surrender cats and kittens, and being abused when told they would have to wait, something tipped Harris over the edge.

“Today, a man walked into our shelter, placed a cat carrier at my feet, and simply said he was heading off on holidays and didn’t want his cat anymore,” she wrote in the now viral post.

As a council-operated pound, the society is required by law to take in all strays and surrenders within two council areas, including “newborns, seniors, healthy or unwell” cats.

But the man was from outside those council areas and became ‘shirty’ when told he would have to wait while she checked they had capacity.

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“He said he did not want the cat anymore because he was going on holiday and didn’t want to put it in a cattery because it costs money,” Harris explained.

To make matters worse, he asked if he could see what other cats were available for adoption in case he wanted to get one when he got back from his trip.

“I just thought, ‘I am done’,” Harris said. “[This cat] just meant nothing to him.”

It was also far from an isolated incident, with the organisation currently overwhelmed with unwanted cats and kittens.

Harris said one of her biggest peeves was the lack of consideration of cat owners, who seemed to think they were doing them a favour by giving up their unwanted cats.

Then there are the threats.

“We have been told ‘If you don’t take this cat or this kitten they will be left on the side of a freeway’,” she said.

Harris told 9honey Pets most surrenders also came with a lie.

“Nine out of 10 tell us they found a box of kittens on the side of the road,” she said.

“But I have been a vet nurse for 16 years and I have never found a box of kittens.

“We would prefer people to say, ‘My cat had kittens and I don’t know what to do with them’. We could take the kittens and get the cat desexed or try to make it more affordable.

“Instead it is a vicious circle.”

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Harris said each surrender had a ‘ripple effect’ at the organisation, which is always close to capacity.

The day 9honey Pets spoke to Harris, the organisation had 230 cats and kittens in its care and a further 250 in the care of volunteer foster carers.

Each time a new cat comes into the centre, it affects the care another cat might receive. This could be vet care, such as a scheduled operation, or a kitten might need to go straight to foster care, leaving another cat to miss out.

“A litter of kittens might bump a shy adult cat from their chance at a foster placement,” Harris explained in the post.

“Every time we have to pivot and make space, another cat has to wait longer for healing, for comfort, for a home.”

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Harris described the work as “relentless and emotional”.

“Every shelter and rescue I’ve spoken to is experiencing the same heartbreak,” she said.

The biggest problem faced is the failure of cat owners to desex their cats in a timely manner.

“A kitten can become pregnant at four months of age,” she said.

“If you are planning to get your cat desexed at nine months, they could have had two litters by then.

“There is a lack of awareness.”

Harris knows desexing is expensive, but says it is part of responsible pet ownership.

The organisation runs its own vet clinic to provide more affordable care. A community desexing program for cat owners who have concession or health cards makes it even cheaper.

It also offers a ‘last litter program’ where it takes an unwanted litter of kittens in return for desexing a mother for free before returning her to the owner.

“We want people to have their cats desexed,” Harris said. “It’s the only away to stop the cycle.”

Harris said anyone thinking about adopting a cat needed to remember it was “not a short-term arrangement [but] 10, 15, even 20 years of love, care and responsibility”.

She ended the post with this plea: “Please desex your cat. Keep them safely contained. Don’t contribute to a problem that shelters across Victoria are drowning in”.

She also put out a call for donations to “keep us afloat” so the organisation can continue to care for unwanted cats until such time they find a home where they “feel safe and loved again”.

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