RSPCA Peninsula has opened a cat and small animal centre at Pearcedale to increase its capacity to care for cats and small animals and reduce the time they take to adopt.
The new centre, which opened on Sunday 2 April, was financed by donors, including gifts from the estates of the late RSPCA Victoria president Dr Hugh Wirth AM – who led the organisation for almost 50 years, and long-time supporter Margaret Johnson.
The centre has “cat cabins” with concealed spaces, an isolation wing, long-stay facilities, and an adoption wing with “meet and greet” rooms.
RSPCA Victoria CEO Dr Liz Walker says it will enable the organisation to care for 250 cats and small animals.
“Our new CASA [cat and small animal] centre is a modern, welcoming space that will really improve the pet adoption experience at RSPCA Peninsula. The bright, purpose-built spaces are designed to allow people to get to know animals one-on-one and find their pawfect (sic) match,” she said.
“CASA not only improves the pet adoption experience for members of the public, but it also increases RSPCA Victoria’s capacity to care for the thousands of animals who rely on us every year. Designed in consultation with veterinarians and animal behaviourists, it will reduce animal stress and illness, accelerate healing and potentially cut adoption times in half.”
Last year, RSPCA Victoria cared for more than 8000 cats and investigated 1922 cruelty reports involving cats and kittens, resulting in seizures of up to 60 cats entering its centres at a time. The average cat stays in care for 34 days before adoption, causing significant capacity issues – particularly during kitten season.
“Cats are amazing creatures and extremely efficient breeders; modelling suggests that one entire female cat and her offspring can produce as many as 5000 cats in seven years. In Victoria, this has resulted in a problem with cat over-population that in turn leads to poor animal welfare outcomes for the cats themselves as well as other native animals,” Walker said.
“Unfortunately, only seven per cent of owned cats that come into our shelters are reclaimed, compared to nearly three-quarters of dogs. They’re simply not valued in the same way, but the truth is that cats make great pets – they are affordable, companionable and can happily live in many different environments including small apartments. CASA will create a positive adoption experience and help enhance the perceived value of cats as companion animals.
“Cats are better in loving homes than in shelters, so our goal is to reduce the average time a cat is in our care before being adoption-ready from 34 days to 13 days. We hope people will come and visit our new CASA adoption centre, enjoy meeting the animals available for adoption and find themselves a new best mate.”
CASA is at RSPCA Peninsula, 1030 Robinsons Road Pearcedale, and is open weekdays from 9am to 5pm and weekends from 9am to 4pm.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 11 April 2023
