Relocating cats is illegal, Matunga cops tell civic body

Feeders said many cats have been left by people in the garden recently

The Matunga police have written to the F North ward office to not relocate cats from the Maheshwari Udyan, pointing out that it is illegal. The police had received complaints from animal feeders, who also registered a non-cognisable offence against a group of senior citizens who had complained against the cats.

A group of 60 senior citizens who do not want cats inside the garden had written to the civic body that the felines coming in their path made them trip. Earlier, the garden had only five-six cats. Now it has 30-35 cats. Animal feeders said the BMC alone is responsible for it, as it is not acting on sterilising street cats.

Animal feeder Viral Gogri, who registered the non-cognisable complaint along with other feeders, said the senior citizens were trying to relocate the cats with BMC's help. The feeders claimed that instead of sterilising cats to control their population, the BMC is relocating them, which is illegal.

Senior Inspector Nitin Bobade of Matunga police said, "We have told the civic body to not relocate the cats and a non-cognisable complaint has been registered. We have also told them to give animal feeders space inside Maheshwari Udyan to feed the cats. The local corporator has been asked to help, too. Senior citizens are right, too, as the cats crossing their paths could make them trip and get injured."

Also read: Mumbai: Spurt in cat numbers worries animal lovers

Apart from Gogri, Gauri Iyer, her brother Vaidhyanath Iyer and Siddharth Ranshevre feed 25-30 cats. Gogri said, "The number of cats has increased in recent months. We found that people are leaving cats in the garden. We feed them daily and also clean the area. The BMC should sterilise the cats and not relocate them."

Feeder Sneha Visaria, who helped register the complaint, said, "Feeders have the right to feed animals. We are receiving complaints from across Mumbai that cats are being relocated."

The senior citizen who wrote a letter to the BMC said, "We are not against the feeding of cats but we are against the nuisance in the garden. While walking in the garden the cats keep crossing our paths, which scares us and we lose our balance and fall. We wanted to relocate the cats as their population has increased in the garden."