It is Hisses to Purrs' mission to save as many street cats in the southern suburbs as possible. We only focus on street cats and cat colonies rather than take in surrenders and rehoming pets for people as we believe this is done by multiple other rescues and results in the stray cat population remaining unmanaged. An example of the work we do is the street cat colonies at Hackham.

We had been alerted to multiple colonies around industrial areas in the southern suburbs. Because one of the committee members at Hisses to Purrs lives at Hackham, we decided to take a look at the situation around the area which is a well known spot for stray cats and kittens. We've spoken to a few businesses in the area, introduced ourselves and explained who we are and what we do. Most business owners have been welcoming and are affectionate towards the cats, feed them regularly and are concerned about their wellbeing.

We had noticed three kittens that were living in some bushes in the area. We had been feeding them for a few nights and formulating an action plan on how to get them and where they could go. Being a small rescue we are quite limited in room for new kittens as we don't have many foster carers, and the three that we do (including committee members) all have kittens and cats at the moment.

While out feeding the kittens a few nights ago, a person in one of the sheds behind the bushes the kittens were living in came to ask us what we were doing. Being the friendly people we are, and considering the response that we had received up until this point, we introduced ourselves, explained the situation and what we would be doing in the near future. Well, this man told us that he would kill the cats and kittens around his area if he got the chance and that all cats, including pet cats, should be given a virus to kill them off as they are not natives. These kittens were clearly not safe in the area like we thought they were. We then headed back to home base and grabbed our traps. Within the hour we had caught the three kittens and had brought them to safety. Unfortunately, there are over 15 adult cats around this area and possibly more kittens that we haven't seen yet.

Studies have shown that cats have the same emotional areas in their brains that humans do. They feel emotions the same way we do, they have the same structures in the brain as we do and even have short and long-term memory centres! Cats are intelligent, emotional creatures the same as us and they deserve our compassion and respect.

Our love of cats in what created Hisses to Purrs, and our compassion towards street cats is what made us decide to focus on these often forgotten and abused animals. Humans are responsible for there being stray cats. Not desexing pet cats, dumping them when they stop being cute and playful or when they end up pregnant due to not desexing. All of these things make us human beings solely responsible for the stray cat population. If you see a stray cat in your area, instead of thinking of it as a pest that needs to be removed and put down, stop for a moment, look into that cats eyes and consider the fact that these animals are a result of someone somewhere not caring enough to be responsible. Trap that cat, take it to a vet and desex it. Or, if you're unable to afford to desex, call your local rescue and see if they can help you.