Flemish cities and municipalities have been catching an average of 20% more stray cats since 2018, while adoptions have risen by 147%, according to a survey by Flemish Animal Welfare Minister Ben Weyts.
Since 2018, all cities and municipalities in Flanders have been required to draw up and implement a local stray cat policy to prevent animal suffering and reduce nuisance for residents.
As part of that policy, they must provide a central reporting point and ensure stray cats are caught and sterilised.
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Weyts said the approach was essential because female cats can become fertile from the age of five to six months and may then have three litters a year, with up to six kittens each time.
He said that, over five years, a single cat could produce as many as 5,000 descendants, adding that prevention was far better than cure.
The annual survey shows that, in 2025, the 196 cities and municipalities that reported capture figures caught a combined 12,577 stray cats.
Antwerp recorded the highest number of capture operations, with 704 stray cats caught, followed by Beringen with 345 and Geel with 283.
Limburg had the highest average number of stray cats caught per municipality in 2025.
Municipalities in Limburg caught an average of 82 stray cats each, followed by East Flanders with 73 and Antwerp province with 70.
Weyts also urged cat owners to have their pets sterilised.
He said that thousands of stray cats could be caught and rehomed every year, but warned that progress would remain limited as long as people failed to sterilise their cats or abandoned them.
