A Riverland woman is advocating for free cat desexing in South Australia to help control what she describes as a cat crisis across the state.
Gillian Curtin, of Waikerie, is among the volunteers and cat rescue groups who launched a petition for free cat desexing.
The hard-copy petition has already received more than 11,000 signatures, and will be presented to parliament by volunteers from the Cat Adoption Foundation in May.
Ms Curtin has been raising awareness of high cat numbers in the Riverland, holding a forum, and handing out printed information for people on why they should desex their cat.
"I said there's more of a crisis in the rural areas, why don't we expand the petition to include all cats in South Australia, so I've been focusing on the Waikerie area and getting signatures there," Ms Curtin said.
"Every cat rescue that I know and even the RSPCA is in crisis [because of high cat numbers]."
Female cats can become pregnant at just four months old.
"These are domestic cats, people have let them roam. They've bred and become colonies. I know of four colonies within the Waikerie area just in the township," Ms Curtin said.
There are many semi-owned and stray cats in Waikerie, she said.
"Colonies can be from 50 to 100 cats," she said.
"I know one particular cat that I've been after for ages, she's only 12 months old and has had six litters of kittens already."
What are the rules?
Councils across SA have varied rules, but many restrict residents to owning a maximum of two cats, and roaming is restricted to curfew times.
All cats born after 2018 must be desexed by law, which costs about $350 without subsidy.
Ms Curtin hopes more regional residents will sign the hard copy petition before it's presented to parliament in coming weeks.
"We're hoping we can get this petition through to raise awareness and get funding because the cat crisis is nationwide and South Australia-wide," she said.
