SAVE COMMUNITY CATS: don't stop hundreds of cat rescuers & carers across the state saving, desexing & rehoming thousands of community cats every year!   UPDATE: OUR NSW COMPANION ANIMAL ACT IS UNDER REVIEW & CHANGING FOR 1 JULY 2026! HELP MAKE THESE CHANGES IMPROVEMENTS FOR COMMUNITY CATS & THEIR RESCUERS AND CARERS! 

SUPPORT THE NSW INQUIRY - OBJECT TO THE CONTROL OF CATS BILL (which is contrary to the Inquiry scientific based findings)

UPDATE FOR SAVE COMMUNITY CATS RALLY: MARCH FOR CATS SYDNEY CBD 3  MAY 2026 

See the brief video here:  https://savecommunitycats.org/sydney-rally-22-march-26/  [Note march was deferred due to general city bans]

Read more at the end of the original petition below.  

************ ORIGINAL PETITION **********

We seek successful One Welfare solutions for better outcomes for community cats, and their rescuers and carers being integrated with the initiatives by New South Wales (NSW) state and local government for humane and best practice cat management.

These initiatives include strategies, plans, delivery of desexing programs, research, and critical education programs with communities for these solutions to benefit cats and reduce impacts to wildlife.

Thousands of kind-hearted public members and cat rescuers / carers provide food, medical assistance, desexing, rehoming etc for abandoned cats in urban areas. There is a very strong and tender emotional bond between people and these cats. Every year, collectively across NSW, many thousands of cats are helped to find new caring families.

Community cats are best defined as "domestic semi owned" cats. Community cats across NSW are at risk if they continue to be labelled as "stray" cats, a term not well defined.

Stray cats are often confused with feral cats. Domestic cat impacts in urban areas to wildlife are generalised, heavily assumption driven, and often overstated. More evidence-based scientific research is required. This confusion and misinformation contribute to demonising and acts of cruelty towards all cats.

One Welfare solutions align concerns and benefits with people, and for urban domestic cats include:

• funding efficient high intensity desexing to rapidly contain numbers

• supporting effective rescuing and rehoming of community cats

• proactively promoting (not mandating) cat containment

• leniently arranging a moratorium on registration fees and charges

• compassionately ending demonising, and addressing cruelty

Benefits with integrating volunteer rescuers and carers under government cat management initiatives include gaining:

• active grass roots community contacts

• valuable lived experiences and knowledge

• vital assistance with desexing, education and research

We call on the NSW Premier, Minister for Local Government including Companion Animal obligations, and the Minister for Environment to proactively support community cats being rescued and rehomed, stop traditional inefficient stray culling, and integrate domestic cat experts proven approaches with cat rescuers and carers in local communities.

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UPDATE  3/5/2026: SAVE COMMUNITY CATS RALLY & MARCH FOR CATS SYDNEY NSW

We continue to promote the need for increased funding, not to stop momentum of funded desexing, increase to a minimum of 60 councils, and to roll out more effective education to ALL 128 councils, with support of the volunteer army of carers & rescuers. Contact our NSW Premier direct:  https://savecommunitycats.org/nsw-inquiry-versus-greens-nsw-bill-nov-2025/

We fully support the world-leading NSW Inquiry Management of Cat Populations published in 2025!  

• We URGENTLY REQUEST MORE FUNDING for desexing programs & effective engagement and education with communities - rapidly gaining more benefits across 60 councils instead of 30! 
• The current 2nd KCSAH TRIAL's DESEXING FUNDING HAS BEEN FULLY UTILISED IN SEVERAL OF THE 30 COUNCILS & THE CATS IN 98 OTHER COUNCILS NEED HELP TOO!
• NSW COMMUNITY CAT RESCUERS & CARERS fully support the Inquiry HUMAN BEHAVIOUR CHANGE PROGRAMS, which involves proven effective education and engagement with pet owners and communities to be rolled out ACROSS ALL 128 COUNCILS
• We also support these initiatives for VOLUNTARY CONTAINMENT which has been scientifically proven in ACHIEVING SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN CAT CONTAINMENT

But MORE STATE & COUNCIL FUNDING is critically required for even bigger results across ALL NSW COUNCILS. These main initiatives plus more improve responsible ownership, desexing, and voluntary cat containment & follow the world-leading NSW cat Inquiry findings & recommendations. 

For more information on the success of human behaviour change initiatives: https://loverescuecollaborate.org/2025/11/26/rspca-nsw-cat-containment-educate-promote-do-not-mandate/

We do NOT support the Control of Cats Bill seeking mandatory containment. Refer to a summary of issues here: https://loverescuecollaborate.org/2026/03/27/negative-consequences-of-mandated-cat-containment/

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STILL AT RISK!!! UPDATE 11/11/2025: The NSW government supported the cat Inquiry recommendations, however a Bill Control of Cats contrary to the scientific based findings was introduced for mandated cat containment. Mandated containment has not been proven effective, is expensive, punitive, does not address root causes of issues and places ALL community cats at risk. We need more signatures until the Greens NSW bill fails to gain support in parliament. 

The NSW government has backed the parliament Inquiry Management of Cat Populations enabling funded desexing programs (including community cats in hotspots) and a holistic human behaviour change programs to increase cat containment in a positive and proactive way, already proven across many councils. HOWEVER, Greens NSW party is challenging this with a Control of Cats bill - being promoted for mandatory cat containment BUT it implies very high euthanasia rates for ALL roaming unchipped cats!!!  This bill implies stopping rescue, desexing, and rehoming community cats, to funnel all roaming cats into already overloaded council pound systems or worse as the Greens suggested alternatives to vet humane euthanasia. 

Read more here https://loverescuecollaborate.org/2025/10/23/flawed-nsw-greens-bill-for-cat-containment-laws/

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UPDATE: A rally was held in Sydney in relation to this petition and initiatives - please refer to the new webpage to view videos and information on this event. https://savecommunitycats.org/sydney-rally-23-aug-2025/

For more information on the rally, read the About and Discussion posts:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1474981566898840