About three weeks ago a notice appeared on a community notice board at Strathdale Shopping Centre warning cat owners that their pets would be trapped and “humanely destroyed” if they came onto that person’s property.

A subsequent notice advised the person had killed three cats, two with collars, and was thinking about “tanning their hides”.

Bendigo Animal Welfare and Community Services (BAWCS) brought the threats to the attention of the Bendigo Advertiser, after being contacted by concerned residents last week.

The group’s Facebook page has been inundated with comments deriding the “cat killer”.

BAWCS president Debbie Edwards said owners needed to secure their cats on their own properties at all times.

“It might be a bluff but we just want to let people know what’s going on and they need to be more vigilant,” she said.

“Concerned cat owners can contact BAWCS if they need advice on how to keep their cats contained and disadvantaged cat owners may be eligible for financial support for a cat enclosure.”

Strathdale resident Paul has been missing his cat Charlie for a week.

Paul, who withheld his surname, said he was very concerned about the cat trapper.

“I’m thinking of putting a missing poster next to his notice so we can provoke him a bit more or see whether it’s one of the ones he has trapped,” he said.

Council manager of parking and animal control Neville Zimmer said it was illegal for anyone to kill domestic cats.

“People can’t do that – there are rules around unlawfully destroying any animal,” he said.

But Mr Zimmer said trapping trespassing cats was OK.

For a number of years Bendigo has had a “cat curfew” that confines cats to their owner’s properties between sunset and sunrise. Mr Zimmer said the council could help anyone concerned about cats coming onto their property.

“We have a program where we lend out a trigger-plate trap. It’s a cage which is humane and causes no harm to the pet,” he said.

“The cat is then impounded, and if it has identification it will be reunited with its owner.

“We have plenty of people with concerns about cats trespassing on their property, but we would not like people taking it into their own hands.”

Mr Zimmer said the council had been notified about the Strathdale cat trapper and was “looking into it”.