Banning domestic cats from public places in all Australia is now a distinct possibility. The war by the authorities against free-roaming domestic cats and feral cats in Australia has been relentless and it is having an effect on the attitudes of the citizens. The vast majority support confining cats to the home all the time according to a survey which reflects the way Australians have been digesting the endless stream of propaganda against the domestic and feral cat over the past 10 years.
Below: the domestic cat as a criminal who has wantonly decimated small native species in Australia and has been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion and is to be imprisoned for his crimes in perpetuity.
Australia is far ahead of other countries in terms of never letting domestic cats out of the home. But it not enough. Imprisoning cats in the home without enriching the environment would be like replicating those horrible zoos in Hungary where wild animals live in bare, concrete enclosures and lose their minds with pacing and other signs of madness.
But I understand the reason as does the everyone else: to protect wildlife. The Aussies have thrown in another reason: to protect people from zoonoses carried by domestic cats. The Daily Mail claims that diseases transmitted from cats to people cost the Australian economy AUS6$ billion per year. Not sure where that figure comes from. They blame the cat for giving toxoplasmosis to people but most infections come from non-cat sources i.e. infected raw foods. But is just another reason to imprison cats.
Sixty-six percent of Aussies agree on widespread domestic cat containment. They already agree of killing feral cats whenever and wherever they can by any means possible. I called it a war and it is with plenty of pain through 1080 poisoning and bloodshed through shootings.
Researchers at Monash University asked more than 3,400 participants if they’d support cat containment and 66 per cent said that they did. Only 8 percent were against it. The rest were unsure.
The laws of some Australian states could be changed quite quickly to force cat owners to keep their cats confined. For instance, “‘Amending the law in NSW to implement 24/7 cat containment rules is a simple step that would have profound benefits for our native wildlife,’ said Jack Gough, Advocacy Manager at the Invasive Species Council.
In Victoria almost 50% of the councils have introduced cat containment local laws. ACT already has statewide cat containment in place. ACT is the world’s most advanced jurisdiction in terms of restrictions on domestic cat ownership. They lead the way on pet ownership restrictions. The behaviour of the authorities almost points the way to a different kind of relationship between domestic cats and people to one where the old style of allowing cats freedom to roam is entirely extinguished for good.
The Daily Mail cite more statistics about the predation of small native marsupials and mammals but we have seen them all before. They say scale up the rate of killing of small native species by saying that ‘on average a roaming pet cat kills 186 reptiles, birds and mammals per year while a feral cat kills 748.’
Where, for the love of God do they get these figures from? The predation of domestic cats varies tremendously from cat to cat. I don’t think you can scale up statistics from small studies and say the numbers are accurate when applied to the entire country.
There is a lot of guesswork in respect of how many animals are killed by cats annually. But it does not matter. The numbers are high and the authorities project the idea that they are high to ensure that the citizens support cat containment.
Of course, I am in favour of the conservation of Australia’s small animals but simply containing cats 24/7 without any adjustment to domestic cats’ living arrangements is cruel as mentioned above. Just imprisoning cats without ensuring the home environment is enriched is cat abuse particularly after they’ve been allowed to roam.
Many cats would not accept being confined to the home if they’ve been allowed free-roaming all their lives. It would be very difficult for the cat owners with cats crying to get out and breaking cat flaps in their efforts to escape the home and revert to their previous freedoms.
When all of Australia’s domestic cats are finally contained with homes full-time, there will be hundreds of thousands of unhappy and chronically bored cats overeating to entertain themselves, getting fat and unhealthy. Expect the vets to be doing some good business treating illnesses linked to feline obesity such as type 2 diabetes, arthritis, heart problems and kidney disease. A golden era for vets awakens in Australia.
My conclusion
- Protecting wildlife from domestic cat predation. GREAT. All for it.
- Confining cats to their homes. FINE. I don’t mind but the homes must be ‘enriched’ – made feline friendly.
- Australian authorities: they are missing the point. Their plans protect wildlife but will likely cause new health issues in cats and there’ll be hundreds of thousands of unhappy cats too.
- Don’t blame cats for zoonoses.
- Humans need to look at themselves in the mirror and ask, “Are we killing more of Australia’s small native species than domestic and feral cats?” Think global warming. Think human population expansion and new settlements destroying wildlife habitats.