HISTORY
The Pavilion has had feral cat issues for a very long time. Some years ago, management at the time decided to remove the cats and some were caught and removed, i.e. killed. This short-sighted and unpopular approach did not provide a lasting solution to the cat issues due to the ‘vacuum effect’.
Although catch and kill attempts may temporarily reduce the number of cats, surviving cats continue to breed, often at an accelerated rate, and other homeless cats move in to the
now-available territory. This is a phenomenon known worldwide as the vacuum effect. It applies to many animal species including cats, and is well documented.
Although catch and kill attempts may temporarily reduce the number of cats, surviving cats continue to breed, often at an accelerated rate, and other homeless cats move in to the
now-available territory. This is a phenomenon known worldwide as the vacuum effect. It applies to many animal species including cats, and is well documented.
WHAT IS A FERAL CAT?
The cats that live at the Pavilion are feral cats, i.e. members of the domestic cat species just like pet cats but are not socialised and are fearful of humans, often with good reason. Like all animals, feral cats are protected in terms of the Animal Protection Act and harming them in any way is against the law.
The cats that live permanently at the Pavilion have nowhere else to go – the Pavilion is their home. They cannot be caught and re-homed because they are unsocialised and afraid of humans. If they are taken to the SPCA, they will be euthenased as they cannot be re-homed and no animal welfare organisation has the resources to keep unsocialised cats indefinitely. So, in short, the cats at the Pavilion are there to stay.
We understand that not everyone enjoys having the cats around but to put a few myths and old wives’ tales to rest, be assured that:-
The cats that live permanently at the Pavilion have nowhere else to go – the Pavilion is their home. They cannot be caught and re-homed because they are unsocialised and afraid of humans. If they are taken to the SPCA, they will be euthenased as they cannot be re-homed and no animal welfare organisation has the resources to keep unsocialised cats indefinitely. So, in short, the cats at the Pavilion are there to stay.
We understand that not everyone enjoys having the cats around but to put a few myths and old wives’ tales to rest, be assured that:-
- Ferals cats are fearful of humans and will avoid contact with people;
- Feral cats do not carry rabies or any diseases that can be transmitted to
humans;
- The cats will not attack. They will however vigorously defend themselves and
their kittens if they are forced to.
- The presence of the cats will not attract other cats to the area. In fact cats belonging to established colonies actively defend their territories and food sources by chasing away any new arrivals. Poor house-keeping by some stores and restaurants together with the constant availability of chicken bones, burger buns, pizza crusts and other food items discarded by customers create the perfect environment for cats.
OBJECTIVE OF THE PAV CAT PROJECT
It would be unrealistic to aim for a CAT-FREE Pavilion but we are aiming for it to be KITTEN-FREE so the end result will be a stable number of cats living at the Pav and that number will not increase.
The objective of the Pav cats project is to humanely trap the cats, sterilise them(spay if female, neuter if male so no kittens will be produced), vaccinate against rabies, identify them by clipping one ear, and then return them to the area in which they were trapped.
Catching the cats proved to be a problem because the environs of the Pavilion are so vast (in fact, no-one knows how many cats there actually are!) so Kitten Action initiated feeding schemes for the cats, who quickly learn that food will be available at a certain place at a certain time every day and congregate in anticipation. This makes trapping them possible.
The objective of the Pav cats project is to humanely trap the cats, sterilise them(spay if female, neuter if male so no kittens will be produced), vaccinate against rabies, identify them by clipping one ear, and then return them to the area in which they were trapped.
Catching the cats proved to be a problem because the environs of the Pavilion are so vast (in fact, no-one knows how many cats there actually are!) so Kitten Action initiated feeding schemes for the cats, who quickly learn that food will be available at a certain place at a certain time every day and congregate in anticipation. This makes trapping them possible.