NEW NEW NEW Albany and Surrounds Feral Cat Working Group (ASFCWG), is making a few big changes. As we have grown and adjusted, we have gained more understanding of what space we are of best use in the community. We have learned so much from the public and organisations and have found that one big area needing to be addressed is in roaming cat education. We decided that it was time to change our name to better reflect who we are and what we do. While our old name served its purpose it was time for a fresh start and a fresh, new name. With many an idea, we finally decided upon the catchy and much more appropriate CLAWS Working Group (Cat Laws and Wildlife Survival). While we were at it, a new website sounded like a great idea, an individual one dedicated to cats and how we can improve the lives of wildlife and cats by keeping cats contained. https://sites.google.com/view/clawsworkinggroup/home There are helpful hints and stories about how to improve the life of your indoor cats and links to some other great sites. We also have a page for feral cats and other interesting bits and pieces. We will still keep this page updated but head to the new page for a look. We are very excited about the new name and webpage; we hope that you like it, too. Working with, residents, numerous organisations, and government bodies, much of these being volunteers, we have pursued our vision of keeping both wildlife and cats safe by encouraging cat containment. CLAWS tries to foster learning in a fun and positive way, we have numerous educational programs that we get very excited about showing off regularly. Some of these include, · Primary school incursions enthusing kids on local wildlife and cat containment · Workshops for residents on keeping cats healthy and happy contained to a property · Presentations to groups on the damage roaming cats pose to wildlife · Stall displays at numerous events and shows · Lobbying to improve cat containment and better feral control and more We are continuing to interact with other organisations that have any involvement in roaming cats, including, The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Local Government, Landcare groups, residents, and veterinary and animal care establishments to name a few. If wildlife could talk, I am sure they would be thanking all those responsible cat owners who are keeping their pets contained and sterilising their fluffy family members. We know there is a long way to go, local laws review and reduction of other roaming cats for a start, but we look forward to helping other owners transition their cats into appropriate enclosed housing and reducing those unowned cats from roaming. While we currently have no role in actively reducing roaming feral cats, we do encourage control through the correct legal avenues and most of it is imperative that control is humane. Follow the blog to see what is happening in the group and please have a little look around the website, there is useful information and links to be found. https://sites.google.com/d/1LqAzFl-8OyqTuqazoucO1gt14G8j2GOt/p/1u76k8XvLnmicojY0Ksbx08H98fsaDx4A/edit We would love to hear your suggestions so feel free to contact us on the new email address. clawsworkinggroup@gmail.com
We look forward to sharing tips and interesting stories with you. Jenni Loveland - Founder and Project Officer
The Albany and Surrounds Feral Cat Working Group (ASFCWG) was formed in 2019 to conserve our biodiversity, protect threatened species and increase public awareness about roaming cats.
Our Mission Statement: “To facilitate the collaboration of organisations and individuals focusing on the conservation of native wildlife through a coordinated approach to undertaking best-practice feral cat control, addressing the stray cat population issues and promoting responsible pet ownership.” Our group includes a variety of volunteers from catchment groups, wildlife organizations, animal rescue groups, veterinary clinics, cat owners, and representatives from local and state governments. Get involved via email
ASFCWG,
Relative Collaboration Reference map
Meet the crew
Jenni Loveland Project Liaison Officer for the Albany and Surrounds Feral Cat Working Group, and founder of the group has been working since 2019 to educate the community about the best ways to keep pet cats safe and contained, reduce the stray and barn cat population, and encourage landholders and organisations to reduce feral cats on rural properties, state, and crown land. Jenni is passionate about invasive species, particularly feral cats. Previously Jenni has worked at the Fitzgerald Biosphere Group, the Wilson Inlet Catchment Committee, and the Oyster Harbour Catchment Group, where she still works on a voluntary and casual basis. Her previous 20-plus years of experience as a veterinary nurse brings extra talents and skills to the role as does her work in a wildlife clinic and bird hospital. Jenni works two days a week on the project while maintaining some casual work at the Mt Barker Veterinary Hospital.
Our Steering Committee Sarah Comer Is the Regional Ecologist for DBCA in the South Coast Region of WA, a position she has been privileged to work in for over 20 years. Sarah’s work is focused on conservation: implementing threatened species recovery programs, monitoring and management of native species, and integrating fire ecology and science into management of biodiversity in the region. Sarah is currently completing a PhD studying feral cat ecology in south coastal ecosystems.
Photo credit J Riggs
Anne Bondin Used to belong to the local branch of the Wildflower Society of WA, but after a few years a growing interest in birds led her to join BirdLife Australia. Currently, she is the convenor of the Albany branch. She is particularly interested in endangered species and has been a member of the South Coast Threatened Birds Recovery Team for two decades. With the help of the community, she is hoping that we can reduce the impact cats are having on our wildlife.
Jackie is a conservation biologist who, as a fresh Ph.D. graduate, worked as Research Officer on the Gilbert's Potoroo Recovery project for about 2.5 years from 1996-1998. She has been on the Gilbert's Potoroo Recovery Team since April 1996 and was co-author with Tony Friend of the first Gilbert’s Potoroo Recovery Plan published in 2004. She became involved with GPAG in late 2015 to help with social media following the 2015 fire at Two Peoples Bay and formally took on the role of GPAG Communications in May 2017. Since 2019 she has also been project managing GPAG’s two State NRM Community Stewardship grants.
Our current project: Education for best-practice cat management to decrease impacts on biodiversity- Protecting Potoroos and their Native Neighbours. Is being implemented in the Two Peoples Bay/Manypeaks/Waychinicup region. This area is highly significant to residents, tourists, the scientific community, and the Minang Traditional Owners. Two famous endemic and threatened fauna species live exclusively in the area, the Gilbert’s Potoroo and Noisy Scrub Bird, as well as significant populations of Quokka, Western Ringtail Possum, Western Bristlebird, and Australasian Bittern. In addition, there are many other threatened fauna species with significant populations in this area One of the main threats to these "bite-sized" species is that of roaming cats. We will work in the community with Two Peoples Bay/Manypeaks/Waychinicup residents, Noongar groups, school children, and the general public to encourage sustainable social change. We will foster the benefits to cats by keeping them safely contained to your property; discovering barriers and opportunities for feral control; providing education to the community about how to protect the special biodiversity of this unique region, and keeping the community updated on the feral and invasive species happenings in this area.
We Thank the Oyster Harbour Catchment for sponsoring us in this endeavor and State Natural Resource Management for funding this grant. See blog for more detailed project information. https://www.ohcg.org.au/albany-and-surrounds-cat-blog.html
Page 1 For more information on why to keep your cat indoor for safety click on page 1
Page 2 - Protect your cat while protecting wildlife for more information on click on page 2
Page 3 Options for keeping cats safe at home. Click on page 3
Page 4- Not my cat- for studies on this click on Page 4
Page 5 - Keeping your cat entertained – For more information on keeping cats happy indoors, click on page 5 For information on legalities follow link https://www.vincent.wa.gov.au/profiles/vincent/assets/agenda/2013/20130827/att/catacthandbookforlocalgovts.pdf
Page 6 - Definitions on cats- for more information click on page 6
Page 7 for information on roaming cats click on page 7
Page 8 - For information on our funding body State NRM click on page. 8