A new research study will examine the effect of last year's cull of the Stockton Breakwall cats on the people who cared for the stray animals.
The collaborative study with University of Queensland and La Trobe University academics will investigate the "mental and social impacts of lethal cat management" on people who care for feral cats. It has been funded by Australian Pet Welfare Foundation donors.
The research will focus on those involved with the Stockton cats in the lead up to the December cull which left some cats permanently injured and others missing, believed dead.
Volunteers from the Stray Cats Project had fed and desexed some of the animals and said they were not aware of the cull until they arrived to the aftermath.
Emeritus Professor Jacquie Rand said from anecdotal reports, it was "very obvious that this had quite severe mental health impacts on people".
"We felt that it was important to be documented because I think that authorities when they're making decisions about the type of management they're going to use for animals that are seen to be causing a nuisance, they need to really consider the impact on people as well," Emeritus Professor Rand said. "Nearly all cats in urban areas are interacting with people so they've got relationships with people."
The research documents refer to a 2017 study which said wildlife concerns and cat-related nuisance complaints typically preceded concerns about cats' welfare in management of strays, putting them at increased risk of impoundment, euthanasia or culling.
"Everyone in the community agrees that our environment would be better off with fewer free roaming cats that are fighting, soiling, predating wildlife," Emeritus Professor Rand said.
"The question is how best to do that and there's pretty convincing evidence now coming out of both North America and out of Australia that non-lethal management based on desexing [works].
"We do know from modelling studies that lethal methods do work at the very focal, local level ... but they don't produce a long term resolution, you have to keep going back and culling and culling and culling.
"The research shows that 30-50 per cent of the population has to be removed every six months for 10 years to get a sustained decrease by culling."
Emeritus Professor Rand said while there was already research on methods of feral cat management, no previous research has investigated the impacts on those who cared for stray cats.
The study will involve interviews with between eight and 15 carers, as well as others in the community who had reached out saying they were "traumatised" by the event.
Questions include why did you get involved in caring for the cats, what impact has the event had on your life and how do you think the cats should be managed in the future?
The research results are expected to be documented and published in an international journal.
