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Humans and cats have been friends for thousands of years, at least since the ancient Egyptians first took them in and made them allies. That is, until this month, when 12,500 kilometres away from where that relationship began, one species waged war on the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are declaring war on feral cats. And today, we are setting up our battle plan to win that war,\u201d Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek was quoted as saying in a press release announcing her government\u2019s new cat abatement plan to protect native wildlife.<\/p>\n
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Tanya Plibersek watches a demonstration of a feral cat trap.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWhen domesticated cats are living inside our homes, snuggled up at the end of our beds, we rightly love them. But feral cats are the opposite of adorable. They are walking, stalking, ruthless killers.\u201d<\/p>\n But it isn\u2019t just feral cats the minister has her eyes on. Pets were part of the problem too, Plibersek said. There was \u201cno difference\u201d between a feral cat and pet cat that went out at night and killed native animals, she later told a radio interviewer. That\u2019s why the federal government thinks councils could have more power to restrict pet numbers, ban cats outdoors and impose nighttime curfews to prevent native species extinctions.<\/p>\n That stance was welcomed by researchers who are trying to protect Australia\u2019s threatened species. But the war cry from Canberra has alarmed some cat lovers who heard in Plibersek\u2019s comments a government minister preying on a target that can\u2019t speak for itself.<\/p>\n While Plibersek is not the first minister to declare feral cats the enemy \u2013 former environment minister Josh Frydenberg did the same in 2017 \u2013 she has gone a step further in singling out pets. According to the government\u2019s plan, there are an estimated 5.3 million pet cats in Australia that kill more than 500 million native animals each year.<\/p>\n Professor Sarah Legge from the Biodiversity Council, who contributed to the draft, said it \u201crecognises more strongly than in the past that pet cats are part of the story\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cDomestic cats hunt wildlife, and there\u2019s always the risk that unwanted litters end up leaking into the feral cat population,\u201d she said. \u201cI think 24\/7 [containment of cats indoors] is the way to go. It solves the wildlife problem and is much better for the welfare of cats … Cats are one of the worst invasive species. We can\u2019t not act.\u201d<\/p>\n Of Australia\u2019s 29 mammal species that have gone extinct, cats have been the main contributor to 20 of them. There are about 200 more animals on Australia\u2019s list of threatened species list that are vulnerable to predation.<\/p>\n The bilby is one of the Austrlaian species endangered by feral cats. <\/span><\/p>\n But animal welfare advocates argue the government\u2019s plan doesn\u2019t address the more pressing problem in urban areas, which is that stray cats that are not de-sexed and have no one to contain them. There\u2019s also scepticism about the will and ability of local governments to enforce the Commonwealth\u2019s proposed solutions \u2013 keeping cats indoors, a curfew or restrictions on cat ownership \u2013 as well as owners\u2019 ability to meet those conditions.<\/p>\n Kristina Vesk, head of the Cat Protection Society, said she found Plibersek\u2019s media release \u201cquite frightening\u201d. \u201cI find the cheap use of headline grabbing, but also really violent language, dangerous and unhelpful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAll it does is send a subliminal message that cats don\u2019t matter, they don\u2019t have moral standing in the world, they deserve what\u2019s coming to them. They\u2019ve been turned into demons and monsters.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re making cats criminals when they\u2019re the victims, when people are dumping them and leaving them to fend for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCats are just being themselves. They\u2019re not working from a model of vengeance against the minister for the environment. A lot of them do nothing to anyone except give them companionship, comfort and love. For some people, they\u2019re a reason to get out of bed in the morning and face the world. To attack them like that is really uncalled-for. In conservation, there\u2019s no need to name call and demonise any species.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about her rhetoric, Plibersek said: \u201cThis isn\u2019t an attack on Fluffy. This is a defence of Australia\u2019s precious wildlife… [Cats] are one of the reasons Australia is the mammal extinction capital of the world. If we don\u2019t act now, our native animals don\u2019t stand a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Australian newspaper headlines have decried \u201ckiller cats\u201d since at least the 1970s.<\/p>\n A Sydney Morning Herald article from August 1976 raises fears about cats killing native wildlife.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Fairfax Media<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cIf they\u2019ve been declaring war for that long, clearly that\u2019s failed,\u201d Vesk said. \u201cBut it\u2019s cheaper and easier to [keep declaring war], because we\u2019re not the mining lobby, are we? When the landscape is just being burned, logged and mined, the loss of habitat is extreme. We can have a pile of dead cats on a pile of dead country, but that doesn\u2019t achieve anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Legge, however, said there was no point squabbling over which factors wreak the most destruction on biodiversity. \u201cWe need to tackle them all. Just because one seeks to improve cat management, it doesn\u2019t mean you allow land clearing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Emeritus Professor Jacquie Rand, executive director of the Australian Pet Welfare Foundation, said the biggest issue with the government plan is that \u201cmost free roaming cats have no owner to contain them\u201d. \u201cIt might seem obvious that mandating containment would work. But our data published this year shows just 5 per cent of cats entering pounds and shelters are reclaimed, 95 per cent don\u2019t have an identifiable owner to claim them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Dorlene Haidar rescues and rehomes cats from the street.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Rhett Wyman<\/cite><\/p>\n In many Australian suburbs, there are groups of volunteers who spend their nights rescuing stray cats and socialising them to find new homes. Dorlene Haidar is one such person; she currently shares her home in Punchbowl in Sydney\u2019s west with 20 rescue cats. Haidar takes cats off the street herself and pays to have them de-sexed and cared for. She estimates she\u2019s spent up to $30,000 out of her pocket having street cats sterilised.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I work for,\u201d said Haidar, who has run for local council as an Animal Justice Party candidate. \u201cWe need to have stronger penalties for people not de-sexing, and people dumping cats on the street \u2013 that\u2019s where the problem is coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n Another local rescuer, Tania Katsanis, said all levels of government had left individuals, vets and charities to deal with unowned cats in cities and allowed local cat populations to boom.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing that\u2019s starting to bug me is [urban cats] are not \u2018feral\u2019, they\u2019re stray and abandoned. We\u2019re making cats criminals when they\u2019re the victims, when people are dumping them and leaving them to fend for themselves,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can put as many laws in place to restrict cats from wandering, but there aren\u2019t enough rangers to go around and slow down the breeding cycle. It\u2019s going to be a hard one to police. On the list of things that law enforcement have to do, I don\u2019t think chasing cats and whether they\u2019re out of their home is at the top of their list.\u201d<\/p>\n Rand also thinks there are other ways to deal with the issue. \u201cCommunity cat programs based on free de-sexing of cats in areas with high numbers of free-roaming cats are very effective in reducing complaints, reducing free-roaming cats being impounded, reducing the number of healthy cats being killed and reducing council costs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Chief executive of the Cat Protection Society, Kristina Vesk, is concerned about violent language being used about cats.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cIn these programs, most people feeding one to two stray cats will take ownership of them if the cat is de-sexed, microchipped and registered for free.\u201d<\/p>\n And while Rand does support restricting cats to their owner\u2019s property, she said it\u2019s often not so simple \u2013 particularly if someone has a \u201cdoor dasher\u201d cat who is hard to rein in.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is 30 per cent of Australians live in rental properties, and containment systems are often expensive. Mandated containment criminalises cat ownership for people on low incomes and in rental properties.\u201d<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the social consequence of declaring war on a beloved animal. \u201cPeople are upset by this attack. People who love cats and tend to them feel like they\u2019re under assault,\u201d Vesk said.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people who are socially isolated, or not as well-off, they consider the relationship with cats to be meaningful. If they can\u2019t afford these things [such as de-sexing and containment], they\u2019re going to be very distressed.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Vesk agreed the issue can be dealt with if the language is sensitive and communities are consulted. \u201cThe ACT took a really long view of this some time ago, started talking to the population and phased it in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In many Australian suburbs, there are groups of volunteers who spend their nights rescuing stray cats and socialising them to find new homes.<\/span><\/p>\n ACT Environment Minister Vassarotti explained that the territory introduced a 10-year plan in 2021 that required all cats born after July 2022 to be contained inside all the time. People also need to register their cats and have them de-sexed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reasons for that are twofold: welfare of the cat and welfare of natural wildlife,\u201d Vassarotti said. \u201cThere\u2019s really significant research that suggests [indoor] cats live longer, are less likely to be injured or susceptible to illness \u2026 About half of cat owners contain their cat anyway.<\/p>\n \u201cCompliance and enforcement is an important part of the plan, but our focus has been in this first period around education, particularly because we have the grandfathered arrangement, we are working with the community to understand their obligation.\u201d<\/p>\n But the expectation is that repeat offending owners won\u2019t be able to ignore the rules. And there are penalties, including fines and criminal prosecution, for serious cases.<\/p>\n \u201cA bit over 12 months down the track, there\u2019s a good understanding and acceptance of the plan and the role we all need to play,\u201d Vassarotti said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt recognises cats are an important part of many people\u2019s families, they are much loved, and we\u2019re trying to bring a strategy that recognises that and supports responsible cat ownership while protecting this wonderful environment that we get to be in every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s Threatened Species Commissioner, Fiona Fraser, said it was important the federal government takes a leadership role in the space. \u201cOur speciality isn\u2019t pet cats, but they are part of the feral cat story, because feral cats start somewhere … It\u2019s fairly diabolic, the impact they\u2019re having at the moment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cCats are important for people\u2019s happiness, people live longer when they have a pet. It\u2019s about people still having their pets but managing them in a better way.\u201d<\/p>\n Fraser said the big shift will be towards full-time containment, which she argued some councils had already done well by giving people the resources to build external enclosures such as outdoor cages that give cats space to run around and facilities to play on.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s when it really makes a difference on the number of animals that are killed. It\u2019s really important [that] they\u2019re 24\/7 curfews, not just nighttime curfews. If you lock your cat up at night, they\u2019re just going to hunt different animals in the day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to managing invasive species, it\u2019s important to pursue all the options you\u2019ve got available.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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