Cat Watch scheme will help Luton’s stray cats

A community project to track numbers and improve the welfare of stray cats in Luton’s Biscot and Dallow wards will launch this month.

Cats Protection’s Biscot and Dallow Cat Watch scheme aims to track and record homeless cats in these Luton wards in order to improve their long-term welfare. The scheme was successfully trialed in Dunstable and Houghton Regis in 2018, helping more than 75 stray cats.

Residents, community groups and businesses of Biscot and Dallow are being urged to help by reporting unowned cats through a specially-developed mobile phone app, a Facebook page, or by email, text or phone.

The national charity hopes that by identifying cats living on the streets, it can better target its welfare and neutering work, helping strays and the communities in which they live.

Cats Protection’s Head of Neutering Sarah Reid said: “There are stray and feral cats living on the streets in all towns and cities and a large number of these have become much-loved community cats.

“However, because many of these cats are unneutered, the number of homeless cats can rapidly increase and create a problem for their own welfare and the community as a whole.

"We’ll be working closely with the community in Biscot and Dallow to locate these cats and improve their health and welfare, through measures such as neutering, vaccination and health checking.

“While we have the skills and tools available to help cats in need, we need local people to help us locate them first.

"We’ll be regularly visiting prominent locations in the area so people can chat with us face to face and residents can use our mobile app or text us to report a stray cat. It really couldn’t be simpler to get involved.”

The scheme, to launch on Monday, November 9, will include a number of measures to enable residents to help build a picture of the number of homeless cats, including:

- The Cat Watch mobile app will help people report a stray or feral cat to Cats Protection. The free app has been designed to be easy to use on iPhone or Android. To download, search ‘Cat Watch’.

- Email, text or call: report sightings of stray or unowned cats to Cats Protection’s Community Neutering Officer Carly Bradbury at [email protected] or 07968 470 323.

- The Cat Watch Facebook page will make it easy to report a stray and find out more about the scheme - www.facebook.com/groups/267674784642366.

Cats are prolific breeders, with females capable of giving birth to around 18 kittens a year, which means outdoor populations can quickly grow if cats are not neutered.