Her call comes after threats from a Strathdale person claiming to be trapping and killing any felines that wander onto their property.

Ms Edwards approached the Bendigo Advertiser on Monday after the threats were posted on a community notice board in Strathdale.

She said the BAWCS Facebook page had been “running hot” with people denouncing the anonymous cat trapper.

“What this has all been about and why we have brought it to the attention of the media is to stress to cat owners how important it is to look after their cats and keep them on their property,” she said.

A subsequent story in the Bendigo Advertiser yesterday received more than 50 comments online, some angry at the cat trapper but most calling for cat owners to contain their pets. One comment claimed a person was setting traps and killing cats in Long Gully.

Ms Edwards said it was possible for people to keep their cats on their property.

She said there were a number of affordable fencing products, cat enclosures and tunnels on the market.

“And cats can actually survive well enough inside, if you know what their needs are,” she said.

“Then they can have supervised time outside, you have just got to make sure you know where they are.”

Ms Edwards said she empathised with people who were plagued by nuisance cats.

“Cats are highly-developed hunters, they do kill things, and they can be noisy. No one wants to wake up to the sound of cats fighting,” she said.

“And if you’re a gardener you don’t want to be digging up cat poo, there’s nothing worse than the smell of cat poo. I fully support people’s right to use cat traps, but we don’t support the destruction of cats, that is against the law.”