There is a headline from an Australian news media website which tells us that veterinarians support a program of killing feral cats in the Northern Territory, Australia. Yes, they support the idea of deliberately targeting feral cats to trap and then “euthanise” them. It is uncomfortable to hear of vets supporting the deliberate killing of healthy animals (feral cats are not automatically unhealthy).
The word ‘euthanise’ in this instance is a euphemism because what they really mean is that the cats should be killed, albeit painlessly. And we have to take them at their word that they are actually euthanising trapped feral cats and not killing them in some other way.
However, I question the wisdom of veterinarians wading into government agendas of killing feral cats in order to protect wildlife. It is a common theme in Australia. I expect local and federal governments in Australia to promote the idea of killing feral cats en masse but I don’t expect veterinarians to agree to it because a central plank of their attitude to the job of veterinarian is compassion. Compassion and empathy are perhaps the two key aspects of being a successful veterinarian.
A veterinarian should not euthanise a healthy domestic cat even if the owner requests it (which happens from time to time). Euthanising a healthy cat is killing the cat; it is not euthanasia. Feral cats were put there by irresponsible humans. They are now the responsibility of decent humans to deal with them properly.
Why is it that veterinarians advocate killing healthy feral cats but not killing healthy domestic cats? They are the same creature but for the misfortune that the feral cat either became feral because they were cast out by a family or were born into the urban environment because their parents were once domestic cats but were abandoned. Either way you slice it or dice it, the problem originates in poor human behaviour.
Batchelor, Norther Territory, Autralia
The reason why I’m mentioning this is because there is a story today about veterinarians supporting the killing of feral cats in the small town of Bachelor which is adjacent to the Northern Territory’s Litchfield National Park. In that area the council has a program to reduce the number of feral cats because they pose a threat to native wild animals.
The trapped and humanely killed 26 feral cats in the Bachelor area. Chelsea Smart, a veterinarian in the area, said that it was important to get rid of the feral cats to protect “all the native species that reside within the area”. She was worried because she’s seen an increase in the number of feral cats over the past two years in different parts of the Northern Territory.
She is worried that the number of feral cats will expand to the point where they start living in the park. Bachelor is a very small community of about 500 residents. Is it not beyond the bounds of possibility that they could organise a TNR program in the area rather than killing the cats? With such a small number of residents, wouldn’t it be manageable to organise TNR? And they could combine it with a relocation of the cats (although relocation is tricky).
My guess is that this solution has been rejected because it works too slowly. But it is humane and it is decent and these cats have a right to live in a properly managed feral cat colony. There are many well looked after feral cats in America living in colonies managed by volunteers. Why can’t Australia do something like that? These cats live quite healthy lives, sometimes they are more healthy than domestic cats. Their lifespan is not super-short as the experts constantly say. Humans put them there. Humans need to look after them.
And then, with education, people can hopefully improve their cat caretaking skills and act more responsibly. Eventually this would solve the feral cat problem of Batchelor. It will be slow but the feral cat problem was a slowly deteriorating problem due to neglect by citizens and the authorities. They should reverse the trend slowly too.
SOME MORE ON KILLING FERAL CATS:
