Should we eradicate cats in Australia?

[stui magpie]

^

That's called duck hunting season.

[K]

[stui magpie]

Really good article in the NY Times about the lengths people are going to, to stop feral cats.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/maga ... tner=IFTTT

Warning, some people may find parts of it disturbing.

[K]

Bullets, baits, killer robots: feral felines in the firing line

https://www.theage.com.au/national/bull ... 51l4t.html

"The fight is on to rid Australia of the millions of cunning killers pushing many of our native wildlife species to extinction."

"The continent has the highest mammal extinction rate in the world. Cats are considered to have been a leading threat for 22 of the extinct species, including the broad-faced potoroo, the crescent nailtail wallaby and the big-eared hopping mouse. "Recent extinction rates in Australia are unparalleled," John Woinarski, one of the country's foremost conservation researchers, told me. "It's calamitous."
...

... cats kill an estimated 377 million birds and 649 million reptiles every year in Australia. (In the US, the numbers are even more striking: scientists estimate that free-roaming cats kill 1.3 to 4 billion birds and 6.3 to 22.3 billion mammals every year.) On the evolutionarily sheltered continent of Australia, their presence represents one of the greatest threats to the continued existence of certain small mammals. "Feral cats are a real menace and a very significant threat to the health of our ecosystem," Treasurer and former environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, told me."

[LaurieHolden]

Following a referral from the Minister for the Environment, the Hon Sussan Ley MP, the Committee resolved on 18 June 2020 to conduct an inquiry into the problem of feral and domestic cats in Australia.
A new national conservation mission to protect native Australian wildlife from the threat of predation by cats, to be known as Project Noah, is the centrepiece of a new report released by the House of Representatives Environment and Energy Committee today.

A new report (well it was then) from the federal parliament recommends cat registration, nighttime curfews and spaying and neutering.

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Bu ... a_Releases

[eddiesmith]

Can we eradicate dog owners? Anyone that has a fur baby needs to be shot before we get rid of harmless cats.

[think positive]

I think we should eliminate Eddiesmiths or make them the new Karen’s

But before that eradicate duck shooting season, and if necessary the tools with the guns. Gutless pricks

[What'sinaname]

I think we should eliminate Eddiesmiths or make them the new Karen’s

But before that eradicate duck shooting season, and if necessary the tools with the guns. Gutless pricks

Nah, I agree with Eddie. Dog owners who can't fkn read signs about dogs on leads, those that leave dogshit on the ground and yes, those fkheads who have furbabies.....grow up!

[think positive]

**** loves her furbabies, wool babies and feathered babies! Even my human babies, most ofthe time. Not a cat fan though, damn sneaky ducking bastards

[pietillidie]

Severe measures have long been needed. There's simply no choice from a biodiversity perspective.

Eradicated unless: de-sexed, chipped and fitted with some sort of scarer, with limited registered breeding licenses for fanciers that cost whatever per year to sort the serious from the rest.

To distinguish strays from ferals, the former can still be saved by going into registered shelters as space permits to be desexed, chipped and homed, or put down accordingly.

No harm pulling dog owners into line at the same time but to a lesser extent, bearing in mind they're mostly a minor nuisance when poorly controlled, though I'd be much stricter on barking given the need for denser living. (I assume dangerous breeds and individual dogs are already well-controlled, though I notice there has been a spate of attacks here and in the US of late).

However, these things usually flare up as a cheap finger-pointing internet substitute for confronting threats to biodiversity like climate change, deforestation and salination.

[pietillidie]

Just noticed this on the Aussie cat problem on the BBC:

But restrictions vary widely and there are no containment laws at all in Western Australia or the most populous state, New South Wales (NSW).

Prof Legge believes while many Australians already understand the need to reduce the impact of cats, a standardised approach would help greatly.

Many councils, too, would like to expand restrictions, but can't do so because the overarching laws on domestic animals are set at state level.

"If you're a pet cat owner, it's really confusing because it's just a patchwork of different rules depending on where you are. The next step would be to try and get all of those laws harmonised and make it easier for local governments to bring in cat containment."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-64806771

[think positive]

Desex em all, and HUGE fines for people who dont do it. make it illegal to sell pets for profit. Controlled breeding, same for dogs. And i dont mean breeding for show or profit, because what happens to the ones who are not pretty or fast enough?

[What'sinaname]

I don't understand. What do you mean make it illegal to sell pets for a profit? Why can't breeders make a profit for their endeavour? And what is controlled breeding exactly?

Or do you mean, only registered breeders can breed cats and dogs. If so, then yes, I agree, but they need to be able to profit from this activity.

[think positive]

yes exactly, but they need to regulate the profits. the prices over covid were ridiculous, and all it achieved was massive amounts of 1-3 year old pets getting murdered in shelters, because they are over run.

[stui magpie]

An all-women ranger team has taken up arms to protect native animals from feral predators in central Australia.

Key points:
The Tjuwanpa Women Rangers recently took a refresher course in safe and accurate shooting
The firearms training will help the rangers in their role protecting native species
Feral cats eat thousands of native creatures each day
The Tjuwanpa Women Rangers have been sharpening their shooting skills at the Alice Springs Shooting Complex.

On 4,500 hectares of land in the Ntaria region, the rangers trap and euthanase feral cats with a gunshot and then bury them.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023- ... /102336792

Meanwhile, closer to home.

Domestic cats will kill more than a quarter of a billion native animals in Greater Sydney and Melbourne during the next four years unless stricter pet regulations are introduced.

New research by the Australian National University conducted for the Biodiversity Council, Invasive Species Council and Birdlife Australia found that roaming pet cats kill 546 million animals a year in Australia, 323 million of which are native animals. The research also found that pet cats kill 6000 to 11,000 native animals per square kilometre each year in urban areas.

https://www.theage.com.au/environment/c ... 5de8u.html

Note, these aren't feral cats. These are pet cats that aren't locked up and are free to roam, desexed or not.