The City of Greater Geelong has made changes to its cat trapping services as the result of a nationwide cat vaccine shortage, due to production issues.
Effective immediately, and for the foreseeable future, the City of Greater Geelong will not be offering or performing cat trapping within the municipality.
This is to reduce the number of cats needing to be taken to shelters, particularly the City’s pound service operator, Geelong Animal Welfare Society (GAWS), who are currently experiencing critical supply shortages.
While the situation will be actively monitored, and cat trapping services will resume as soon as possible, the situation is unlikely to change until February next year at the earliest.
In an effort to manage capacity at GAWS, a number of other actions will also be implemented to slow or cease admissions:
- The surrender of cats will be discouraged until the supply of vaccination stock has recovered. Food and bedding support will be provided where possible.
- Whilst the vaccine shortage is impacting shelters, free Council registration will be offered for newly adopted cats currently in GAWS, for the remainder of the current period and through to April 2025.
- There will be an extension of the current subsidised cat desexing program offered by the City at GAWS to minimise litters in coming months. The concession requirement will be removed, and program dates extended until funding allocation is exhausted.
The City is continuing to work closely with GAWS to monitor and respond to the situation as it unfolds and remains committed to supporting animal welfare.
Adopting a cat, keeping your cat indoors, ensuring your cat is wearing Council registration tag when outdoors, desexing your cat, or making a donation to a local animal shelter or rescue group are some ways residents may consider helping during this critical time.
Mayor Trent Sullivan
The vaccination shortage is a significant issue that is being experienced on a national scale.
The health and wellbeing of cats in care is of utmost importance and the City is doing its part to support the community based on the advice provided by our shelter partners at Geelong Animal Welfare Society.
While we’ve been told the situation is temporary, there is currently no confirmation of when vaccines supply will increase and so we encourage the community to do their bit to help.
Alistair Miller – Acting Executive Director Community Service Delivery
As difficult as the situation is, there are a variety of ways in which the community can help reduce the pressure on the system.
All cat owners have a role to play by keeping cats safely inside their homes, so as to minimise the risk of contracting or transmitting disease in the community.
Along with considering making a donation to GAWS, the community can play it’s part by desexing their cat and considering cat adoption to reduce the load on the shelter system.
