Savannah Cat Breeder Makes 2 Million Dollar Claim

The Savannah cat breeder so callously treated by the Australian authorities is pursuing a $2 million claim for compensation against the Australian Federal Government.

His business plan of breeding Savannah cats in Australia was destroyed when Environment Minister Peter Garrett banned the importation of breeding Savannah cats into the country on the grounds that if they escaped they would become feral, mate with the existing feral cats and produce an army of super feral cats that would eradicate native Australian wildlife. Sounds fairly reasonable on the face of it, only the government had already approved the importation of these cats and the breeder, Glenn and Karen Parker, of Benowa had acted on this by investing financially into facilities and received deposits on cats.

Also the arguments propounded by Mr Garrett really don’t stack up. It is not as if the breeders were going to be housed in an ordinary home. They would have been caged securely by the breeder and the cats bred would have been f5 generation cats, true domestic cats probably a lot less able to kill wildlife than many Australian moggies. Plus the sold cats would all have been altered (neutered and spayed).

As Mr. Parker said the Garrett’s decision “opened a can of worms” as there are already many similar hybrids, such as Bengal cats, in Australia. What will happen to these?

The trouble with suing the government is that it is very hard to achieve a successful outcome. That on the face of it will leave the Parkers out of pocket. What I suspect will happen is that the government will settle the matter quietly and reimburse the Parkers. That is the only equitable outcome on the facts of the case that we read about. Of course, there could be more to the story.

I am not surprised that this Savannah cat breeder is making a 2 Million dollar claim. It is just a damn shame it came to this. This post covers the topic more fully: Savannah cat ban is wrong.

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Savannah Cat Breeder Makes 2 Million Dollar Claim

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Apr 15, 2011 super cats?
by: Sav Mom

Seriously? I have an F5 Savannah and she’s neither large nor wild at all. Not only that, my special girl is not going to be permitted to go out and breed with ferals (as if!). People do get an idea into their heads about these kitties and it’s very generalized toward “wild cat”. People who see my girl (4 mos now) say “Oh, she’ll be BIG if she’s a Savannah” and I have to explain the whole filial/outcross situation (which is crazy, I’m not a breeder just an owner!). Still, I can see how people are getting this silliness into their heads about Savannahs being monster-sized wild cats. They just seriously need to be corrected about the breed, as opposed to the low F hybrids.


Dec 27, 2009 i would have bought one
by: Bella Hulley

All I know is that it is disappointing, I have been researching for a long time and I know of other people doing the same. It is a real shame that one man can dictate his thoughts on a matter and thats it….pretty big what if Peter put forward….we as Australians pay for desexing, microchipping and council registrations for our cats or we face fines, maybe if he hit the pet shops and instilled a policy of not selling a kitten to just anyone would actually help the feral situation instead of punishing breeders and responsible pet owners who do the right thing.


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