Cat owners are flouting new sterilisation laws as veterinary clinics and pet stores are inundated with abandoned kittens.
Mandurah Pet and Reptile World are expecting 17 litters of kittens this week. They also get boxes of kittens left on their doorstep overnight.
Kevin and Ruth Cooper bought the business six months ago and said the number of kittens was ‘shocking’.
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READ NOW‘But I won’t stop until I find them homes,’ Mrs Cooper said.
The couple encourage cat owners to bring kittens to them so they can be desexed and vaccinated. They are also offering $50 castration for 100 male cats.
Coastal Veterinary Clinic has had 10 kittens brought in this month.
With at least two months of the breeding season left, veterinarian Katie Barker expects that number to triple.
She urges cat owners to sterilise their cats.
‘There are enough kittens in the world already,’ Ms Barker said. The kittens they do have are available to take home as pets, with some ready now.
Ms Barker said sometimes the mums were brought in too and it was harder to find new homes for them.
‘It is a challenge to re-home them,’ she said. ‘The kittens are sweet but I like the mums; they have a good nature to them.
‘We see the awful side of it; if they aren’t rehomed they are euthanised.’