A volunteer animal carer wants to help Griffith couple Charlie and Betty Margulles, the elderly couple featured in Gang Gang a week ago, who are troubled by hungry, stray cats coming over the fence into their backyard.
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As well as working in two shelters for cats, Alexandra Craig runs Canberra Cat Fix, a project to help people on low incomes desex their cats. She has offered to invite local rescue groups to trap the cats in the Margulles' neighbourhood and find new homes for them.
Charlie and Betty have been feeding magpies in their backyards for decades. Years ago, when she was working, up to 60 magpies followed Betty's car home when she turned into her street. Lately, the couple have been seeing more cats in their backyard, and fewer birds.
A hot topic in Canberra, wider cat containment has supporters and opponents. Ms Craig believes the problem could be overcome if more cats were desexed.
"I'm planning to lobby the government in the future, once Canberra Cat Fix is finished, on the possibility of introducing a trap-neuter-release program."
She says TNR doesn't happen much in Australia because of concern for wildlife. Even the RSPCA will euthanise any feral cats that are surrendered to them in traps.
"However, recent studies show that simply culling feral cats doesn't solve the problem. In the areas where large culls were completed, the cat population actually increased after the cull."
Ms Craig says the most effective way to control the population is to trap the feral cat, desex it, and return it to the colony. "Short term this won't solve the problem, but if it's done consistently, over time it could effectively eradicate a big chunk of the feral cat population."
She says legal issues need more investigation.
"As I understand it, it's legal to trap a feral cat and legal to desex it, but returning it to the colony is classed as dumping, which is illegal. TNR is legal in NSW and a North Shore vet clinic has started a project of TNR, which seems to be going well and will hopefully pave the way for other vets to get on board."
After studying ways to manage the city's cat population, Canberra researchers Kathy Eyles and Michael Mulvaney recommended cat registration in the ACT with a similar fee structure to surrounding NSW shires. Fees raised would pay for community education and enforcement of management laws.
