The City of Melville has introduced new cat condos at its Operations Centre in Murdoch, strengthening its collaboration with the Cat Haven and delivering positive outcomes for both the community and cats in the City’s care.
Previously, cats were impounded through the City of South Perth Animal Management Facility, which meant MelSafe officers had to travel outside the City's boundaries to drop off impounded cats, resulting in additional travel time and less control over the impounding process.
All cats will now be impounded at the City's six newly built cat condos with cats with an identified owner to be held for a period of seven days, while cats with no identifiable owner will be held for three days.
Once the relevant holding period has expired, cats will be transferred to Cat Haven for rehoming.
Before rehoming, all cats will undergo a veterinary assessment to ensure they comply with legislative requirements, including microchipping, sterilisation and any other applicable animal welfare standards.
The partnership with Cat Haven, provides the Shenton Park-based animal welfare organisation with a consistent source of cats for its rehoming program while supporting its important animal welfare work.
By utilising Cat Haven's expertise in rehabilitation and adoption, the City can ensure impounded cats are given the best opportunity to find permanent homes.
The new system will significantly reduce officer travel time, allowing officers to spend more time conducting investigations, responding to customer requests and proactively patrolling the City's parks and reserves.
It also provides greater operational efficiency and improved control over the management of impounded cats.
The new condos follow the introduction of the City’s first Cat Local Law in late 2025, which balances the needs and interests of cat owners with the City’s responsibility to protect native wildlife and amenity for the community.
The Cat Local Law saw the introduction of cat prohibited areas at 64 parks and reserves and a two-cat household limit, which does not apply to fostered or temporary cats.
Residents who had more than two cats registered at their address before the local law came into effect, did not need to make any changes – they were covered under the grandfather clause.
Attribute the following comments to City of Melville Mayor Katy Mair:
“The City of Melville recognises that cats are much loved companions for many of our residents, enhancing their health and wellbeing and these new cat condos will give our MelSafe staff greater control over the impounding process, resulting in a higher likelihood of reuniting lost cats with their owners.
“We’re very pleased to partner with Cat Haven to give them a consistent source of cats for its rehoming program while utilising their expertise in rehabilitation and adoption.
“This new process will result in financial savings as we’re no longer relying on a third-party impound facility and it’ll mean our MelSafe officers have reduced travel time allowing them to respond more efficiently to other operational matters.”
Attribute comments to Cat Haven Marketing and Fundraising Manager Amber Ashford:
“Cat Haven is proud to partner with the City of Melville in supporting the rehoming of cats that come through the City's Operations Centre in Murdoch.
“This partnership marks an important step forward in giving more lost, stray and surrendered cats the opportunity to find safe, loving forever homes, while strengthening animal welfare outcomes for the local community.”
Image: Cat Haven staff Veronica Rivett and Alison Groves with MelSafe Investigation Officer Ivan Chellan and Mayor Katy Mair in front of the cat condos.