[The Name's Bond]

Cats are beautiful. BUT Australian wildlife is precious, we must contain cats to save our gorguz Australian animals and birds. I totally agree with hefty fines for anyone flaunting the law when it comes to letting cats out. Cats are not everyone's Cats ... puhleese contain them.

 

[SandyM]

I live in Victoria and have always had either one or two cats at a time over the years. My cats have always been de-sexed, registered with the council and now microchipped. They have always been indoor only cats, no cat runs, just warm, sunny windows to sleep in. They live long, healthy lives. Since most councils in Victoria have brought in cat containment laws, I have noticed that the price of kitty litter has more than doubled, because every cat owner needs to use it now!

 

[mylittletibbies]

I live in Victoria and have always had either one or two cats at a time over the years. My cats have always been de-sexed, registered with the council and now microchipped. They have always been indoor only cats, no cat runs, just warm, sunny windows to sleep in. They live long, healthy lives. Since most councils in Victoria have brought in cat containment laws, I have noticed that the price of kitty litter has more than doubled, because every cat owner needs to use it now!

I've noticed that kitty litter has already gone up here in WA, and the law hasn't even come in here yet.
I have always had my cats desexed and microchipped (except when I was a breeder) but I refuse to pay registration when they are confined to my property.

 

[Veggiepatch]

A University of Sydney study found that each roaming cat killed an average of 186 reptiles, birds and mammals per year.

Could someone advise me as how these figures were determined?

Apparently they are statistics derived by using a roulette wheel.

 

[DLHM]

Yes u have to keep dogs in why not cats they kill wild life walk all over scratch your car make your dogs and poo in your yard and your dog rolls in it and you have to wash your dog

Your dog probably rolls in its own poo. Cats will usually poo in a garden or uncovered sandpit where they can cover their poos. Dogs don’t cover their poos. How about loud barking dogs that neighbours have to contend with?

 

[DLHM]

some pet owners are as thick as 2 planks and cat owners in general think they are not responsible for their cat-- truth be told , dog crap doesn't stink half as bad as cat crap does and is better garden fertiliser.

You must be joking?!? I suppose you think YOUR crap doesn’t stink. If you think dog fertiliser is better for gardens, you’d better think again. Get your “facts” right.

I don’t know whether or not you are a pet owner, but you are as thick as 2 planks.

 

[Veggiepatch]

some pet owners are as thick as 2 planks and cat owners in general think they are not responsible for their cat-- truth be told , dog crap doesn't stink half as bad as cat crap does and is better garden fertiliser.

Some dog owners are thicker than ten planks and you are representative of the "ten plankers".

Have you ever put dog shit onto lawn or in garden beds? From experience, it works better than Roundup!

 

[SteveY]

Bring it on right now. Sick of watching a neighbours cat stalking the local bush hens. Cats need to be enclosed. Our council does absolutely nothing to trap cats.

 

[macalyn1]

Why scare owners the law came into Victoria back in the 1990's the only ones it effected was the breeders and the honest. I have rescued cats worked at RSPCA was on Committee in my town my boss (Vet) was president at the time I also bred and showed cats as I told the news paper when interviewed at the time it won't stop back yarders and all these years later you can see how it worked. I always bought Bird Cages large ones with a door then we put a run up in front cheaper than they say here. When moving into town I bought a large block that has 6ft high Color Bond Fencing all round set up for my animals 24/7 nothing could get in or out back yard. Yet I still had back yarders breeding and their cats climbing their trees and jumping over to this day out front. Nothing will stop them the best idea is for Vets to cut their prices even have free desexing for those who can't afford to pay over $400 to get a young Semi Wild cat desexed like the one I rescued at deaths door. I am on the Pension, Disabled $514 a week to pay for every thing, lucky I own my home. I applied to Council for help ended up in QLD I am in Victoria, put on waiting list could be a month as they are broke received an email Thursday they are not doing desexing, I am selling things so I can afford to get her done. I agree cats should not be roaming but they found here in VICTORIA they couldn't follow up the rules they made as it was to hard, CATS are not like DOGS and only the honest and breeders suffer for the dishonest back yarders who couldn't care less. I guess seeing Councils are BROKE they are trying every thing than can to make money. HELP GET THE ANIMALS DESEXED it would stop all problems and check into VETS ripping SHELTERS and the PUBLIC off gone are the days when they loved animals now they are just money hungry.

 

[Penny4]

My cat has an enclosure and she loves it. I'm over people walking their dogs and they let them lift their legs on my fence and letter box. Their response is other dogs do, so mine can too. I'm not a dog hater, as I love them also, it's their silly owners.

 

[Silla]

I got my friend’s cat , since he was moving and he wanted to give it to the pound.. she is quite old and stays in my backyard and indoors..
One day the neighbours cat came and they had a fight in my backyard and my cat’s paw was hurt and she kept licking her paw and limping .. my daughter tried to see if she was hurt but she wouldn’t let her touch her paw.. The next day she was fine .. Whenever I see the neighbours cat on my fence I chase it …

 

[Veggiepatch]

My cat has an enclosure and she loves it. I'm over people walking their dogs and they let them lift their legs on my fence and letter box. Their response is other dogs do, so mine can too.

I am over dog owners thinking they are King Shit, taking their dogs to Bunnings and local cafes, disrupting the passage of customers and pedestrians.

This is photo of a cafe less than 100 metres from where we live. On a "busy" day, there are several dogs sprawled out across the footpath, preventing access, most importantly, those with mobility aids.

 

[Penny4]

I am over dog owners thinking they are King Shit, taking their dogs to Bunnings and local cafes, disrupting the passage of customers and pedestrians.

This is photo of a cafe less than 100 metres from where we live. On a "busy" day, there are several dogs sprawled out across the footpath, preventing access, most importantly, those with mobility aids.View attachment 85255

I agree. They are now allowed at my local farmers markets also. Some are huge dogs!

 

[meighLeigh]

IT should be an Australian wide federal law
Unrestricted cats are the second biggest killer of wild life after toads and some feral cats are bigger than the average house hold dog
I have to register and de sex my dogs and ensure they are kept inside the boundary, yet cat owners do not accept any responsibility for their roaming cats The laws must be , all cats have to be de-sexed if not the property of registered cat breeders and unless there is an approved cat containment area , then the owners should have to pay 3 time what responsible cat owners do in registration fees.
The time is long gone when a kitten is given as pet and then abandoned in the wild when it becomes a nuisance

I think you will find that human beings are out and away the biggest killer of wildlife. Cane toads are still restricted to northern Australia, so their lethal effect is limited to there.
Another point to consider: feral cats have been in Australia before European settlement - they came across on Indonesian praus, they swam ashore from European (Dutch) shipwrecks. (Genetic testing provided evidence for this).
Then there is the remarkable fact that your average cat spends about 70% of its life sleeping (there are times when I envy them!), which doesn't give them that much time to hunt! To compensate for which, they are very good hunters (i.e. a relatively high % of their hunts ends in a kill).
And regarding dog and cat size - as a veterinarian, most dogs I treated were over 10kg body weight. Feral cats are big, but not often greater than 10kg body weight!
All laws should be Australia wide. It saves a lot of confusion.
Desexing dogs is now something called into question - at least, the age of desexing and the possible unfortunate consequences of it. (By and large, I still believe desexing is the best option longevity and health wise, but I suspect I am in conflict with some of my colleagues. All my pets have been desexed.) Unless some remarkable research has proven otherwise in the past 2 years, desexing cats is the ONLY 'safe'' way to stop them breeding.
No pet should EVER be given as a present unless the receiver is mature enough to accept pet ownership is not only a privilege (NOT A RIGHT), but also a commitment for the entirety of the pet's life.

Hmm. I think I've stepped up on 5 soap boxes in the above spiel. Anybody want me to get up on some more?

 

[meighLeigh]

Re keeping cats indoors: nothing wrong with that PROVIDED all the cat's needs are supplied (and here goes the retired veterinarian with a special interest in cat health and welfare).
- suitable food (No, I won't get on that particular soap box this time)
- fresh water
- somewhere to hide when feeling threatened Some cats like 'cave' spaces, others like heights, and it depends on the threat the cat sees. A threat can be loud noises on the street, a visitor in the house, introduction of a new member (including baby) to the house, a strange cat/dog seen in the yard. Depends entirely on the temperament of the individual cat.
- a clean place to toilet, not near resources such as food and water. That means litter trays that are changed whenever they have been used. A cat's sense of smell is considerably better than ours, so if you can smell your cat's litter tray at all, to the cat it stinks like a shallow and badly maintained public long drop! Odour 'neutralising' litter doesn't. All it does is mask the odour from our noses, but not from cat's noses.

Veterinarian tip (not soap box): most 'inappropriate' urination is caused by dirty litter trays. Even most 'blocked bladders' can be relieved by changing the litter tray - not just changing the litter, but at least rinse out the tray. Maybe even wash it with some sort of enzyme cleaner. Whatever you do, when cleaning up cat's pee, don't use a cleaner containing amonia. It smells like cat pee. Very, very strong cat pee, if you're a cat.

 

[Macarj]

Not before time. My cat doesn't leave my property just prefers her own yard, which is reasonably large.
There is nothing wrong with your cat becoming an indoor only cat if you can't afford an enclosure.
I had an enclosure for my cat when I lived in the city.
However I refused to pay a registration fee for my cat, when I was registering my dogs. What for?? If your cat is enclosed on your property then the council incur no costs with regard to your cat so what are they charging you for. I told them to take me to court. They never did.
I actually am not happy having to pay to register my two little dogs, who have no way of escaping from my property. I clean up after them when I walk them.
As per usual the majority of responsible dog owners have to pay for the minority of bad owners.

We live on 7.3 acres on our property we have 4 dogs and have to pay a kennel license as well as registration also our dogs are never out of our property

 

[Veggiepatch]

Another point to consider: feral cats have been in Australia before European settlement - they came across on Indonesian praus, they swam ashore from European (Dutch) shipwrecks. (Genetic testing provided evidence for this).

I beg to differ.

The historical literature suggests that in Australia, the domestic cat (Felis catus) had a European origin [~200 years before present (ybp)], but it is unclear if cats arrived from across the Asian land bridge contemporaneously with the dingo (4000 ybp), or perhaps immigrated ~40000 ybp in association with Aboriginal settlement from Asia. The origin of cats in Australia is important because the continent has a complex and ancient faunal assemblage that is dominated by endemic rodents and marsupials and lacks the large placental carnivores found on other large continents. Cats are now ubiquitous across the entire Australian continent and have been implicit in the range contraction or extinction of its small to medium sized (<3.5kg) mammals. We analyzed the population structure of 830 cats using 15 short tandem repeat (STR) genomic markers. Their origin appears to come exclusively from European founders. Feral cats in continental Australia exhibit high genetic diversity in comparison with the low diversity found in populations of feral cats living on islands. The genetic structure is consistent with a rapid westerly expansion from eastern Australia and a limited expansion in coastal Western Australia. Australian cats show modest if any population structure and a close genetic alignment with European feral cats as compared to cats from Asia, the Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Indian Ocean), and European wildcats (F. silvestris silvestris).

Peter B S Spencer, Andrey A Yurchenko, Victor A David, Rachael Scott, Klaus-Peter Koepfli, Carlos Driscoll, Stephen J O’Brien, Marilyn Menotti-Raymond, The Population Origins and Expansion of Feral Cats in Australia, Journal of Heredity, Volume 107, Issue 2, March 2016, Pages 104–114.

https://academic.oup.com/jhered/article-abstract/107/2/104/2622861?sid=2982b541-e94c-4646-9944-a9890856b590#no-access-message

 

[Sherril54]

Good idea, it should be a law in all states. We have 2 that roam around at night (not ours) and they do affect wildlife they also have terrible fights.
My father worked at a hospital and would always bring home stray feral cats and that would be it. These cats roamed around and were quite dangerous, I remember being scared to go to the outside loo, they would jump you, I often had bite marks and would have to belt them off me as they were clinging to my clothes (and that is a true story, almost deliverance material). Now I do not like them at all.

 

[Ivory]

When ever my wife does some gardening, a local cat comes in the night and shits in the freshly dug dirt. It STINKS.
If I knew from where it came, I would collect that stinking pile and put it in their letterbox!

Our local council has a cat management branch and if you're having problems with other cats they provide a cat trap, and follow up when the catis caught.

 

[Ivory]

There has been cat containment laws in place for approximately 4 years. My husband built a “catio” and the cat can enter and exit the house via a cat window, and when he exits the house he is contained by the catio which is. 6m x 8 m with numerous plants for shade etc, an elevated walkway that makes the most of the sunshine. He also has a large insulated, timber floored cat house. He appears quite content, and is happy and playful.