A “cultural shift” is needed across one Aussie state to help overcome a destructive myth that’s leading to the deaths of millions of birds, lizards and mammals, a leading policy advocate has told a parliamentary committee. Allowed to wander during the day or night, 80 per cent of pet cats will attack wildlife and the nation’s best minds are meeting to offer solutions.
Because most cats don’t routinely bring their kills home or have a big appetite, many pet owners falsely believe their purring ball of fluff doesn’t have a secret life where it’s maiming and killing wildlife. But statistics estimate the average pet cat kills 110 native animals each year, roughly 320 million across Australia, and that doesn’t even include frogs or insects. So most agree education is needed.
After fronting the NSW parliamentary inquiry into the management of cat populations on Monday, the Invasive Species Council’s Jack Gough said the state should look to neighbouring Victoria where a bold solution appears to be helping to fix the problem. Laws there have enabled regional governments like Bass Coast Council to legislate 24-hour cat containment to “protect the region’s significant native wildlife from death and disease”.
“There’s really effective legislation that’s empowering local government to take action on the issue of roaming pet cats. We don’t need state-wide legislation, we want rules that can be owned and implemented by local communities” he told Yahoo News.
Gough argued enforceable rules are needed to tackle what he described as “one of the biggest threats to wildlife”. The species is directly responsible for the third highest number of extinctions in Australia, after humans and chytrid fungus.
Critics argue containment laws impact people who live in apartments, who don’t have space to let their cats exercise. Source: Michael Dahlstrom
“We need a cultural shift on the issue, there is no silver bullet that changes the entrenched belief of a whole heap of people that it’s okay to let their cats roam, hunt, kill, and harass our wildlife. Just as with roaming dogs in Australia 50 years ago, there needs to be the same cultural shift with cats” he said.
“And that needs to start with clear rules about keeping your cat contained and being a responsible pet owner, but it also involves education, enforcement, and working with communities so they understand the impact roaming pet cats have.”
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Debate rages over cat containment plans
Committee chair Emma Hurst and the Animal Justice Party which she represents in parliament, have traditionally advocated against complete cat containment, which the Invasive Species Council sees as an ultimate solution to cats killing wildlife.
“My position, and obviously the position of the party, is that we need to look at both the welfare of cats and the welfare of wildlife equally,” she told Yahoo during an interview on Monday.
“So we need to work out what’s going to be the most humane path forward for all of them, and what methods are going to be effective.”
Hurst noted that most submissions agree that towns are over capacity with homeless cats, and that massive desexing programs need to be implemented across the state. “If we run big desexing programs that’s going to make the most significant change, and really protect wildlife,” she said.
Concern roaming pet cats exposed to disease
Dr Sarah Legge is an expert on the impact of cats on wildlife, and she sat through Monday’s hearings as a representative of the Biodiversity Council of Australia.
In her submission, she advocated for a goal of cat containment, because it’s better for wildlife. But also for cats, because cats kept indoors are unlikely to get killed by cars and dogs, or exposed to diseases. She doesn’t see any point in cat curfews because they only shift what animals cats have access to. “If they’re out at night they get access to mammals. If they’re out in the day, they get access to birds and reptiles,” she told Yahoo.
This plover chick (left) was orphaned after its mother was killed (right) by a pet cat and then rescued by the author. Source: Michael Dahlstrom
Bigger issue than cats killing native wildlife
Dr Colin Salter from WIRES also gave evidence at the inquiry on Monday, agreeing that cats are a problem for wildlife, but they only make up around three per cent of its call outs.
He argues that habitat destruction and fragmentation are much greater problems. “Sometimes cats are used as a distraction from that,” he later told Yahoo.
In its submission, the native animal rescue group, warned “the status quo is not working” and advocated for legislative changes to empower local governments to run more effective programs.
Salter agrees that cat containment would help wildlife, but it would need to be adopted as part of a suite of measures, including education. He believes it’s important that changes do not disproportionately affect people in apartments who don’t have space for their pets to exercise, or renters who don’t have permission from their landlords to keep them inside.
“I think almost everyone believes it is a good idea. But we need to work out how we get there, that’s not punitive and doesn’t disproportionately impact different sections of the community,” he said.
The author, Michael Dahlstrom, was a native bird rescuer for seven years. During this time he cared for dozens of native birds that had been killed and maimed by pet cats.
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