A Michael Broad Blog
New Zealand and Australia lead the way on discussing and implementing obligatory cat registration through specific legislation. This is because the authorities believe that they have valuable native wild species, normally small mammals and birds, which need protection against predation by indoor/outdoor cats. For example, New Zealand is a country with a low human …
Background Tasmania is an island state of Australia and sheep farming is a major component of Australia’s agricultural industry. The protozoan parasite toxoplasmosis is well known. The domestic and stray cat is the primary host. They shed Toxoplasma gondii oocysts for about eight days in faeces but the oocysts are durable and survive in …
Tasmanian devils are being introduced into Australia to prey on feral cats and foxes. The feral cat is persona non grata in Australia. They are enemy number one and the authorities on that vast continent will do almost anything to get rid of them. The latest wheeze is to introduce the Tasmanian devil, the …
Tasmanian devils create a “landscape of fear” for feral cats, which causes the cats to avoid altogether those areas where they might encounter Tasmanian devils. This has become clear because in Tasmania the Tasmanian devil has suffered from a fatal transmissible cancer to the face which has caused their population to plummet by about …
Tasmania has adopted a very honest approach to “cat shelters”. They call them “cat management facilities”. That does sound a bit dark and mysterious but it is a much better name because the word “shelter” is often wholly inappropriate as cats are often not sheltered at these places. Cat management facilities are part of …
