Three stray kittens and their mum have found comfort under the floorboards of a Moama house, but they are not welcome.
Photo by
Jemma Jones
A family of four cats has made itself at home under a Moama house, leaving the frustrated homeowner searching for solutions to remove his unwanted tenants.
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Lynton Woodward has had a few unwelcome guests over the years, but none quite like the ones that now live under the wooden floorboards of his Kingsey St house.
The cats have taken to the comfort of dirt underneath his house — but they’re not his, and nobody wants them.
The cat conundrum has taken Mr Woodward down a winding path of communication with local and cross-border local governments, rangers and animal shelters — but there is still no light at the end of the tunnel.
“They've got to go somewhere … either to the shire and they can work out what to do with them, or they go to a helping hand place,” Mr Woodward said.
“They can’t live under my house anymore.”
After discussions with Murray River Council regarding the critters, Mr Woodward was told there was nothing that it could do.
“The short answer to what they were telling me is no-one knows how to get rid of these things,” he said.
A council ranger is only permitted to come out to a property and trap a cat given specific legislative provisions are met.
Director of sustainability of growth Bryce Kilian said because there were no cat containment laws in place, cats were legally permitted to roam.
“As a result, a cat being considered a nuisance or ‘feral’ is not, on its own, a lawful reason for it to be trapped or seized,” he said.
Some of the kittens venture on to the verandah of the home.
Photo by
Jemma Jones
“Under NSW legislation, cats may only be trapped or seized under specific authorised circumstances. Trapping a cat for any other reason may constitute an offence.”
The responsibility lies largely with the owner of the property, in this case Mr Woodward, to manage the stray or feral cat within the limits of the NSW law.
Making matters worse, council has stopped offering cat-trap rentals while it reviews the entire service.
Previously, residents in a similar situation to Mr Woodward would be able to rent a cat-trap to humanely trap the felines.
Residents also cannot take seized cats to an interstate pound or welfare organisation.
With no close-by shelter north of the NSW-Victoria border, if Mr Woodward does trap the four cats with his own traps, there would be nowhere to take them.
Mr Woodward said responsibility should be taken by government authorities for a situation that is largely the fault of loose legislation.
Under the provisions of the Companion Animals Act 1998, cats within NSW are considered to have no boundaries and are free to roam.
The act has been under review for the past few years.
A discussion paper was released in 2025 and agreed there was ambiguity in the act that resulted in “varying interpretations” of the legislation.
It stated the NSW Government was “looking to move to an outcomes-based regulatory framework”, allowing councils to be more responsive to individual circumstances.
But legislative changes down the track won't help homeowners dealing with this problem today.
“There are cats everywhere ... bloody everywhere,” Mr Woodward said.
“They’re just running wild. People around me have trouble. People down the road are having trouble.
“Good luck to the public, but there is no help to the ratepayers.”
Murray River Council has advised residents who are experiencing ongoing issues with stray or feral cats to contact council for advice on lawful and appropriate options for managing these situations.
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