Doveton’s Andrea Shiozaki and her Bast Cat Club have more than 60 cats needing homes.20464
By Kelly Yates
A WOMAN is Doveton’s version of Dr Doolittle, creating a cat club to help sick and injured cats.
Andrea Shiozaki has saved several hundreds of cats at her Doveton house over the years, feeding, de-sexing, microchipping and vaccinating them before finding new homes.
The 52-year-old began the non-registered Bast Cat Club about 10 years ago and currently has eight volunteers.
The group has more than 60 cats looking for homes and Ms Shiozaki has more than 50 dead cats buried in her back yard. The cat lover pays for everything out of her own pocket and says it has now become a full-time job.
“Many people would think I’m a fool but I don’t want to do this. I do it because I love them and feel I have to,” she said.
“We need to help these animals who are treated dreadfully by society.”
Ms Shiozaki said the community needed to lend a helping hand.
“If you see an injured or starving cat, have a heart and take it in and then find a home for it.”
Living life with only the bare essentials, Ms Shiozaki said she forked out $2500 for cat fencing to keep the cats inside her property.
“My pet bill averages out at $800 to $1200 a month,” she said.
“Once you start helping these cats you just can’t stop because the cats keep coming.”
One resident who lives near Ms Shiozaki and wished to remain anonymous said the smell was a problem and at times she couldn’t even open her windows.
City of Casey’s manager of customer service Rob Colling said council proactively checks random properties to ensure compliance with the local law.
He said council investigates the houses and depending on the outcome, a Notice to Comply could be issued to reduce the number of cats.
Casey’s Local Law states that a person who owns or occupies land of less than 4000 square metres must not, except with a permit, keep more than two cats.
A person who owns or occupies land of 4000 square metres or more must not, except with a permit, keep more than four cats.
“Since March 2006, four unidentified cats have been impounded around Doveton,” he said.
The City of Casey promotes responsible pet ownership which includes compliance with council’s local law.
The law requires that cats three months and older must be de-sexed, microchipped and registered.
Ms Shiozaki said she’ll be helping cats for as long as she can.
“I can’t see any way out of it. One way or another, I’ll keep doing it.”
For further information, contact Andrea Shiozaki on 0425 712 753.
