our philosophy

At Cat Protection, we believe every cat deserves a loving and responsible home.

This means everything it implies: every cat, not just some cats; loving and responsible, meaning affection, shelter, food, veterinary care for the cat and keeping them from harm as well as preventing them from harming others whether that is native wildlife or simply going into people’s backyards who don’t want the cats there. A home: a real home for the life of the cat – cats are not accessories to be given up when they are ‘inconvenient’.

The dangers for a cat living on the street are enormous and we’ve seen so many victims of cruelty we cannot accept that a street cat is a safe cat. As well as cruelty, unowned cats are at risk of disease, injury, cold, hunger, thirst and parasites.

We believe that a contract was made between people and cats many thousands of years ago when people first domesticated cats and we believe that we have a moral obligation to honour that contract.

In Australia, cats are not a part of our natural environment but they are a very important part of our social environment. If people care for cats responsibly, then it is possible to have protection of wildlife as well as cats in our community.

No-kill shelter

At Cat Protection, we are careful in our adoption procedures to try to match the right people with the right cat and if for any reason this does not work out, we will take the cat back.

While with us, our cats enjoy high quality food, veterinary care, love, playtime and daily supervision by qualified staff. We aim to provide a best-practice feline shelter.

We do not discriminate between stray and owned cats, or cats and kittens.

As a no-kill shelter, we are managed admission meaning people need to book a cat in with us as we don’t always have space available immediately. Click here for more information on surrendering a cat.

Cats live with us and continue to receive all the care and attention they need until they find their own forever home. For most cats, that usually takes only a few weeks or for kittens it can be just a few days but some cats have stayed with us for a year or more before finding a home. There is no time limit on how long cats stay here.

‘No kill’ means we don’t kill healthy cats. The dictionary definition of euthanasia is ‘bringing about of a gentle and painless death in the case of incurable and painful disease’ (Australian Oxford Dictionary). Sadly, there are occasions where we have to take cats to the vet for euthanasia but where a condition is curable and the cat is not suffering, we will fund and organise the necessary treatment or surgery. You can see examples of cats we’ve helped in Cat Tails.

Our reach

As a small charity, our capacity is closely managed. Our focus is on our Newtown shelter; discount desexing programs for the greater Sydney area; and education and information, which can extend to regional areas and with electronic communications, a very broad reach.

Our work is focused on domestic cats. We are not qualified to comment on feral cats, except to say that as with any living being, humane, ethical and scientifically sound principles should govern their treatment.

The Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy is responsible for biodiversity conservation, and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act deals with, among other things, invasive species (which includes feral cats).

Responsibly cared for domestic cats give people loving companionship, as well as physical and mental health benefits and, if suitably confined, do not pose a threat to wildlife. For more information and additional resources, visit our Good Neighbour Project page.