Most Councils have their own programs and/or affiliations with places such as RSPCA, AWL etc yet as it stands Cumberland council offers no programs such as free Desexing, discounted Desexing and/or free microchipping/vaccination/health checks. Instead they choose to leave it up to their kind hearted community members to take it upon themselves to help cats in need or feed, trap, neuter and release the thousands of street cats to try and stop the current explosion in these populations as well as help to stop the spread of diseases and infections and further prevent killing of native wildlife. Most of these cats DO NOT choose to be on the street, they have been abandoned by irresponsible owners who have not desexed their cat and once pregnant no longer want the responsibility once the cute kitten stage has worn off. Hundreds of innocent kittens are dumped in parks and carparks, even in plastic bags where some have been known to suffocate, lunch boxes and worse or they are born on the street to dumped mother cats and so the cycle begins. Uncontrolled breeding leading to so many kittens. These cats get sick, are a nuisance, kill wildlife only as a way to survive and eat, are hit by cars and poisoned or tortured by cruel individuals. Street life is a terrible life for an animal. The chances of a long life are slim. Hundreds of these poor cats suffer terribly before dying slow and painful deaths. It's time Cumberland council took responsibility for this problem by enforcing laws around pet ownership, educating pet owners - especially those of non English speaking backgrounds, actively seek out rule breakers and enforcing hefty fines. They MUST start to be more proactive within our communities by way of things such as to start offering free Desexing especially for street cats but also for community members and those with low income. In fact, to begin with EVERYONE should have access to free microchipping, health checks and vaccinations, even moreso provide this service for street cats to try and reduce numbers as currently the numbers are rising uncontrollably that we can not keep up. These programs need to come into play IMMEDIATELY to make any difference to current street cat populations and may be wound back to those helping street cats and low incomes further down the track. It is also unfair to turn a blind eye to this problem. Take responsibility Cumberland Council. Show the community you actually do SOMETHING with the thousands of dollars provided by Government. There's no excuse for your failure to act. If other council can, Cumberland being such a large council certainly has the means to do so.  If we continue to go unheard and unsupported we will be forced to take this matter straight to State Government to inform them of the issue.

I implore all members of our community to sign this petition as a way of forcing council to listen and do something.