FEBRUARY 5, 2020 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
Fifty cats rescued By Esther Lauaki
Fall in love with park
MIKE AND JESS
Love will be in the air at Wyndham Park on Valentine’s Day. On Friday, February 14, residents will be able to take their first look at the upgraded Werribee park, which has been redeveloped by Wyndham council under a $13 million project, including a $3.2 million grant from the state government’s Growing Suburbs Fund. The park is now home to an adventure play space, an events lawn, seating, toilets, barbecues, shelters, new pathways, improvements to cycling access, viewing areas and improved lighting. On Valentine’s Day, the council will screen two movies at the park, Shrek at 6pm and The Notebook at 8pm. There will be free children’s activities from 5pm, including making your own flower crown. Picnics are welcome and there will also be dessert treats available for purchase. Entry is via Wedge Street Piazza and visitors are encouraged to bring along their own picnic blanket or camp chair. The event will be alcohol-free, see wyndham.vic.gov.au/valentinesday for details.
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(Joe Mastroianni). 203951_04
Point Cook animal rescuers are calling for public assistance after more than 50 cats were removed from the house of a hoarder. The cats were discovered and removed from the western suburbs property in recent weeks as part of a major operation involving Purrs of Point Cook rescuers Rebecca Roberts and Bec Greeves, along with five other animal welfare groups and foster carers. Ms Roberts put out a call last week seeking assistance for the cats, all of which needed urgent medical care. She said it was “one of the worst cases” she had seen. Three of the cats are currently under the care of Purrs of Point Cook. “Cat hoarding is a serious mental health issue and is an extremely confronting and upsetting situation for everyone involved,” Ms Roberts said. “Our focus is on helping the three cats from this home that are in our care. “These three beautiful cats have all needed medical attention, with [one] so sick that she needed urgent after hours care at U-VET on [January 23],” Ms Roberts said. “All three kitties are dehydrated, malnourished, fluey and are on medication.” Ms Roberts said Purrs of Point Cook, which is run by volunteers, was in desperate need of funding to carry on its important work. An online fundraising campaign has been set up to cover vet bills for the three cats. “We are currently over $5000 in debt to our vet clinics,” Ms Roberts said. “We knew these kitties would cost a lot to bring back to good health and we clearly can’t afford it at the moment, but we couldn’t turn our backs and we knew that our supporters wouldn’t either. “We do not have a shelter, our wonderful network of foster carers provide warm, loving, caring homes for our rescued cats and kittens until forever homes can be found.” She said her concern was that the cats would not be adopted for some time. “With kids heading back to school we find this time of year adoptions completely drop off,” Ms Roberts said. “Families adopt during school holidays because it’s the ideal time for a new [cat] to settle in, especially if parents have time off work too. “Unfortunately for the cats and kittens in care currently, this means they will likely wait months longer to find homes.” Details: purrsofpointcook.com.au/contact-us