News Item about the New Cat Management Program Published in News@UNSW -
Issue: 19 March 2009
News item about the new cat management program published in the university e-newletter,
News@UNSW. Find out more ...
The Good News!
12/12/2008
Many of you will be aware of our very good news. We have been successful in negotiating and signing an agreement with the university management for an effective and humane program for management of the free-living cats on the Kensington campus of UNSW.
The program targets a gradual reduction in the campus cat population over a 5-year timeframe. To achieve this goal a comprehensive management program has been agreed, with a number of specific objectives:
- Complete the ongoing audit of cats on campus
- Establish a detailed web-based register of campus cats, all cats are to be microchipped
- Stabilise current cat numbers through a rigorous TNR (trap-neuter-return) program
- Prioritise the desexing of females, then males, 95% target by end of 2009
- Reduce cat numbers over time; target 20% reduction in numbers by end of 2009
- Adoption of kittens, rehoming of socialised adults, humanely euthanase ill/injured cats, natural attrition
- Maintain the health of the cat population on campus
- Consolidate the volunteer feeding program, introduce flea/worm control programs, investigate the feasibility of a vaccination booster program, explore the efficacy of shelter options
- Educate and inform the university community about the cat management program
- Re-activate the CCC website with links from the UNSW website, News@UNSW announcement, provide avenues for feedback, fundraising, volunteering and research
Most significantly, we have been able to obtain funding from the university to cover all veterinary costs involved in the desexing program, as well as emergency veterinary care and any necessary euthanasia of ill or severely injured cats found on campus.
This program is being conducted with close assistance and support from the Eastern Suburbs branch of the Animal Welfare League NSW, which advises the CCC on aspects of cat management, as well as providing access to adoption services and low-cost desexing and other veterinary care. Donations to support the work of the CCC are now channelled through an Animal Welfare League donation account, which means that all donations are fully tax-deductible – find out how.
The CCC will continue to maintain the health of the cat population through a university-approved cat care program, including regular feeding by CCC volunteers of all cats on campus, and vaccination, flea and worm treatment of all cats trapped by CCC volunteers as part of the desexing program. All trapped cats will also undergo FIV testing, and any cats that are infected will be humanely euthanased to protect the remaining population.
The success of the program will be reviewed at the end of 2009, to determine if goals have been met and to decide on the continuation of the program beyond 2009. In the meantime, a small working group comprising members of the CCC, Animal Welfare League and Facilities Department are meeting every month to oversee the ongoing management program and to address any emerging issues relating to cats on campus.
We have been actively pursuing targets set for 2008 under the program, in particular the completion of an audit of the campus cat population, and the desexing of 95% of the female cat population. We are on target to reach these particular goals – latest estimates suggest that only two actively breeding females remain on the campus, and we are working hard to trap and desex these two cats over summer. In 2009 we will turn our attention to trapping and desexing of male cats, and the introduction of an active rehoming program for the more socialised and tame cats that live on our campus.
We would like to sincerely thank all of you who supported our campaign in 2008 to save the free-living cats on campus, by signing our petition (which achieved well over 2000 signatures), and through donations. We hope that we can rely on your continuing support in 2009, especially to donate money to support the feeding program, and to consider whether you would be prepared to adopt a loving cat from the campus.
What can you do to help right now?
- Donate money to support the cat feeding program. It costs over $300 per week to feed all of the cats on campus. Most of this cost is currently borne by the volunteers who feed the cats daily. Please support these volunteers by donating money for food. Donations are all tax-deductible, and can be made by automatic salary deduction. Donations of cans and high-quality dry food are also welcome - find out more.
- Volunteer as a part-time cat feeder. At the moment, twelve volunteers willingly give their time to feed our campus cats. Some of these volunteers feed one or more groups of cats every day of the week, while others feed a small group of 2-3 cats once or twice a week. This is a very rewarding task, and can take as little as 10 minutes of your time at the end of the day. Even one day a week is a great help! If you would like to know more, please contact us.
- Spread the word. Tell your animal-loving campus friends and colleagues the good news about the new university-approved cat management program. Let them know that they can support the cats on campus by joining the Campus Cat Coalition (contact us), or by donating money to support the cat feeding and maintenance program (find out more). If you happen to have any useful contacts in the pet care industry with whom we could discuss corporate support for the CCC (food or pet care products), please let us know (contact us).
- Adopt a campus cat. There are cats available for adoption NOW. In 2009 we are committed to reinvigorate the CCC adoption and rehoming program, to reduce the number of cats living on campus. Many campus cats will make wonderful and loving pets, and will really appreciate the safety of a home and the love and care of their own special human! All cats for adoption are desexed, fully vaccinated and microchipped, and we can provide full support until your new pet is settled in your home. If you would like more information, please contact us.
Update on the Trapping and Removal Program
18/02/2008
The program to trap and remove free-living cats from the UNSW campus began last Sunday night (10th February), and a number of cats were trapped during last week. We have been successful in recovering most of the trapped animals from the pound so far. The rescued cats have been taken to the vet for desexing and microchipping where needed, and are currently being fostered by members of the Campus Cat Coalition.
As you can imagine this rescue operation is very costly. Pound release fees must be paid and, despite the generosity of the veterinary clinic, there are also significant costs associated with desexing and microchipping the animals. Members of the Campus Cat Coalition have already opened their pockets very generously to pay for the costs of rescuing the cats over the last week, but more help is needed so that we can rescue as many cats as possible over the coming weeks.
We are also desperate to find willing volunteers to foster rescued cats for a short period – we can supply holding cages if necessary. Please contact us urgently (our contact details) if you are willing to foster a rescued cat temporarily.
We also urgently need donations and in-kind support to maintain the feeding program on campus – this costs over $50 per day. Daily feeding of the campus cats is more critical than ever at the moment. If we keep the current cat colonies on campus well fed during the trapping period, this reduces the chance that they will be attracted to food laid in traps.
If you would like to help with feeding a cat colony on campus, even just one day a week, we would really appreciate your help – it is a truly rewarding thing to do. Please check out the new photos of one of our colonies of beautiful campus cats on our Photos page.
We urge you to donate money generously to help at this time of crisis, through the Unicom or Commonwealth Bank accounts of the Campus Cat Coalition (account details). Cat food (cans preferred, no dry food) is also very welcome – please contact one of the Campus Cat Coalition team, or email unswcampuscats@yahoo.com to arrange the hand-over of cat food.
We have had an amazing response to our on-line petition, and aim to present this to the UNSW Senior Management in the next week. If you have not signed the petition, please do so now and encourage your friends and all animal supporters to sign:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/UNSW-Campus-cats Finally we would really like to thank everybody for their fantastic support so far in this campaign to save the Campus Cats at UNSW.
"Save The Campus Cats" Information Flyer
08/02/2008
Download flyer in PDF Format
Save the Free-Living Cats on UNSW Campus - sign our petition on-line
04/02/2008
Sign petition on-line
News Flash
01/02/2008
The University Administration plans to trap and remove all cats from the Campus commencing next week. Many of these cats will be euthanised.
Over the Christmas break of 2007 a number of cats came to a grisly end. Their bodies were found in the Plant Room of The Chemical Sciences Building (formerly Applied Science Building) either on the 7th or the 8th of January 2008. It appears that these animals were not Campus Cats, as we were not able to identify any missing animals. A serious flea plague has allegedly erupted from their carcasses, which had to be contained with fumigation of several levels of the building (from the Plant Room level to level 4). It has been alleged that these unfortunate animals somehow entered the Plant Room, but could not get out.
This incident was then taken to the Executive OH&S Committee by a senior academic and it was immediately agreed that all cats would be trapped and removed from Campus, commencing in the first week of February.
Facilities Management has been given the task of organising the trapping and removal program. It is our understanding that the trapping will be carried out, initially around the Australian School of Business Building (formerly Heffron Building), by Eagle Pest Control. The Randwick Council will collect and remove the trapped cats. Animals that have no microchip will be taken to Sydney Dogs and Cats Home to be euthanised. We are doing our best to ensure that we are informed if any microchipped animals are trapped, so that we can claim them for rehoming. The University has plans to extend this trapping progam to other "problem" areas of campus.
What we are planning to do...
We are organising an online petition to senior University management to protest this poorly considered, indiscriminate and heavy handed action. A link to this petition will be posted here shortly.
We are preparing a poster to publicise this situation. This will also be posted here shortly and we will ask you to distribute this widely around campus. In the meantime please discuss this situation with as many sympathetic staff and students as you can.
We will continue our efforts to lobby senior University management in an attempt to reverse or modify their decision to trap and remove all cats indiscriminately.
We also plan to lobby local politicians and other opinion makers to gain their support for the cats on campus. However, we have decided to hold back on contacting the media until this becomes the last resort.
We need to raise funds urgently to support the rescue effort. A Commonwealth Bank account is being established to facilitate deposits of contributions to the fighting fund. In the meantime, donations can be made to our Bank Account.
Please note: It is very important that we avoid deliberately provoking the anti-cat brigade. We must not name names or get personal. We must contain our upset and anger at this action so that it can be directed towards an effective response.
Important Notice
24/11/2006
Several campus cats have been recently found poisoned. If you see anyone who is acting suspiciously or looks as though they are putting down food and does not identify themselves satisfactorily, as a member of the Campus Cat Coalition and a legitamate feeder, phone security ASAP on 9385 6666 (or internally on ext. 56666). You could also contact the Security Liaison Officer Michael Dawson on 9385 7222 or mobile 0414 - 980 371.
If you see any cats lying around and unable to move, please phone Paula on 9398 9630.
6/10/2004
An illicit trapper has been seen on the Kensington Campus. The CCC only traps cats to desex or rehome them. A procedure has been put in place so that UNSW Security will always know when the CCC is trapping on Campus. If you see someone trapping and you are not sure whether they are the CCC, you can contact Security via any Help Point or by phone on (02) 9385 6000 and tell them where you saw the person. If it is not the CCC, Security will deal with it.
Support Campus Cat Coalition by
|
Purchasing your Sydney Entertainment Book through Campus Cat Coalition. More |
|
