{"id":42379,"date":"2026-07-01T19:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T19:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/42379\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T19:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T19:51:12","slug":"stray-cats-have-taken-over-an-abandoned-welshpool-property-as-concerned-neighbours-fight-to-get-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/42379\/","title":{"rendered":"Stray cats have taken over an abandoned Welshpool property as concerned neighbours fight to get help"},"content":{"rendered":"

An abandoned Welshpool property overrun with stray cats has been ignored by local authorities, and neighbours are urging for something to be done.<\/p>\n

According to locals, the property owner does not live in the house, and the dishevelled yard and dilapidated veranda have become a breeding ground for stray cats.<\/p>\n

Approximately 20 cats and kittens are visible in the front yard, but neighbours claim there are potentially 30 more hiding out the back.<\/p>\n

Self-proclaimed cat-lover Linda Watson lives a few streets over, and has been feeding the cats out of her own pocket since Boxing Day.<\/p>\n

She discovered the property when one of the cats, who has now passed from cat flu, led her there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a little black kitten on the corner, but he wouldn\u2019t come to me. I went home and got food, and I came straight back and watched him run to the food and drink,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought if there\u2019s one, there must be more, so I followed him to the house and there were cats coming out of the roof, cats coming everywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI called him Shadow. He ended up saving his brood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Watson quickly discovered the house had been abandoned by the owner, who she said was an \u201ceccentric\u201d. She felt concerned he was hoarding cats without taking care of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI bumped into the owner and he said, \u2018they\u2019re alright, they catch the rats.\u2019 But the rats are bigger than the kittens,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said the owner had allowed her access to the front yard to feed the cats, but would not allow her out the back, where she believes more are roaming.<\/p>\n

\"PropertyCamera IconProperty in Welshpoool where about 20-30 stray cats, some pregnant, house was abandoned by the owner Andrew Ritchie Credit: Andrew Ritchie\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

The local community has been working together to deliver food and water to the animals, largely led by Ms Watson, who visits at least every second day.<\/p>\n

She spends about $200 weekly on cat food and milk, with support from Petbarn in East Victoria Park and Petstock in Cannington. She also said local vets at SAI Veterinary Hospital in Willetton have provided \u201chundreds of dollars worth\u201d of free food.<\/p>\n

However, neighbours eventually reached out to RSPCA WA when the cats started growing in numbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were told it was a \u2018shire matter\u2019,\u201d Ms Watson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen the owner told me the shire gave him a letter saying he needed to give them permission to come in and trap the cats, and he said no. He wants the cats there, he said they\u2019re rat catchers and they don\u2019t need human intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n

An RSPCA WA spokesperson confirmed with PerthNow<\/a> the organisation received an online report about the issue in March, but could not contact the property owner.<\/p>\n

\"LindaCamera IconLinda Watson spends about $200 on cat food and milk every week for the strays on the property. Credit: Andrew Ritchie\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

\u201c(The online report was) from a member of the public concerned about the welfare of at least seven uncontained cats, i.e. straying cats, at an unoccupied property in Welshpool,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn RSPCA WA inspector was assigned to conduct inquiries. She was unable to obtain contact details of the property owner and therefore could not confirm if the cats were owned or strays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe inspector confirmed the cats were not currently sick or injured, meaning the issue was one for the relevant local government area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe inspector advised the person who had contacted RSPCA WA on how to work with local rangers who have powers under the Cat Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suspected animal cruelty concerns fall under the Animal Welfare Act 2002, which would be enforced by RSPCA WA inspectors. The Cat Act 2011 considers issues with \u201cstray or nuisance\u201d cats and is enforced by local government authorities.<\/p>\n

City of Canning mayor Patrick Hall told PerthNow the city received a report about the stray cats in February.<\/p>\n

\"PropertyCamera IconProperty in Welshpoool where about 20-30 stray cats, some pregnant, house was abandoned by the owner Andrew Ritchie Credit: Andrew Ritchie\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

\u201cSince that time, rangers have been working collaboratively with the RSPCA to address this issue, attempting to capture stray cats in the vicinity of the property,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSection 27 of the Cat Act 2011 provides the ability for the city to impound cats found on property without consent or in restricted areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Watson claimed the City of Canning brought two cages for the neighbours to use to catch the cats, but told them their hands were tied as the owner had not allowed city staff on his property.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a law in this country about cat hoarding and registering your cats,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about enforcing the law to the owner and saying \u2018we\u2019re going to fine you for not registering your kittens\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the city\u2019s cat laws, it is a legal requirement for all cats older than six months to be registered and sterilised by their owners. Residents must also lodge a permit application to keep more than two cats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done all we can. It\u2019s not about the money, it\u2019s about keeping those kitties as well as they can be,\u201d Ms Watson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to get someone to help them find homes. I don\u2019t think they deserve to be killed, they did nothing wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An abandoned Welshpool property overrun with stray cats has been ignored by local authorities, and neighbours are urging…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[2005,6589,227,152,335,228,4316,464],"class_list":["post-42379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-perth","tag-animals","tag-canning","tag-lifestyle","tag-news","tag-perth","tag-pets","tag-south","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}