Flemish municipalities to be given shelters for stray cats
The Flemish authorities are to provide each of the 300 municipalities in our region with two shelters for stray cats. Each of the shelters will come with two notice boards providing information on organisations that help stray felines.
Many municipalities in our region have issues with stray cats. As a result of this the Flemish Government drew up a stray cat action plan. As part of the plan every municipality in Flanders will be given two shelters in which stray cats can sleep and keep themselves dry. The Flemish Animal Welfare Minister Ben Weyts (nationalist) has set aside 250,000 euro to pay for the shelters.
Most municipalities collaborate with a local animal shelter to arrange the capture, sterilisation and re-release of stray cats. Under new rules brought in in April 2018, municipal authorities are obliged to provide shelter and food for cats that they have released back into the wild after they have been sterilised.
The notice boards that accompany the cat shelters provide contact details of the person responsible for stray cat policy locally, information about sterilisation and request to leave the cats alone. Municipal authorities that wish to can buy extra cat shelters from the Flemish Region Authority at a reduced price.