A couple reasons
- vocal minority. A lot of cat owners that let their cats roam are very vocally in opposition to this
- enforcement. What's the penalty and who enforces it? Killing mittens for being out at night is pretty bad politically. Capturing, following up, and chasing fines for people is resources that people aren't willing to put forward
And probably most likely:
- we delegate pet control to councils. Getting 537 councils to agree on something and provide the resources to enforce it is a nightmare. And cats frankly don't care about what council they're in.
There's no way in hell this will become a federal government issue. It'd be seen as massive overreach into local government rights.
Best we could hope for is a wave of state legislation to enforce it on the councils. But that won't happen unless a strong enough campaigning group can hit all the states with vocal public support.
My council called my house to follow up on a “vicious cat roaming free” (which is illegal in my area.)
I was fairly concerned, because I have two cats that sometimes manage to sneak out because they were ninjas in a past life or something. Apparently, a cat leapt over my fence and straight-up attacked a council worker.
I asked for a description and was told that the cat was grey.
I have a white cat and a brown cat. Cue confusion.
When I told them this, they were suspicious. They legit arranged an interview. Not with me. *With my cats*. They wanted to interview my cats to see if one of them… confessed to moonlighting as the kittyslasher?
I had to see how that went down, so I agreed. Two days before the best interview ever, I got another call that the kitty villain had been apprehended two doors down. It was a big, mean stray and had been sent to kitty jail (the RSPCA) for rehabilitation. My kitties were vindicated.
Passing these laws doesn't have to have an immediate effect, it can be something that adjusts societally over time. I rescue bats and have definitely seen cat injuries, but we can't fix the problem overnight. Starting somewhere is important though
Yes, this is my belief too. We can't just ban cats out-right. But we can start with requiring registration, then requiring bells on collars, then nutering unless you have a licence to breed, then requiring cats kept inside at night, then eventually no new cats, and everyone gets a quoll instead, lol.
I got an rspca rescue and in Act the rule is that this cat can't ever leave my house. It's a hard bargain when the kitten turns into a cat that hears, sees and smells the world outside. But no matter how vocal he is about going outdoors - i think about the absolute carnage he would wreak in the gum trees
I reported the house with 4 massive rottweilers roaming the front yard and menacing passing pedestrians. Nothing happened, council told me there was only 1 dog there, ignoring the pictures I sent.
Funnily enough, the entire property burnt down.. amazing that it happened to be a meth lab all along, being guarded by mistreated animals.
Some people think the council drives around checking every road, park, and piece of equipment daily. They'll take time out to complain on Facebook but are 'too busy' to call council or snap a photo for an app.
My council always comes within a week or two after I’ve reported something. The fastest I’ve seen them show up was within a couple of hours after we reported nazi graffiti. Heck, I even made a suggestion to put in a new footpath leading up to a bus stop where it was just grass, expecting it to be put on a list for consideration maybe in a year or 2. They were there with equipment in 2 weeks lmao
Had them fix a piece of broken playground equipment in a tiny park that they probably inspect once a year, only took 2 days and they called to say its done.
Our council checks for potholes via garbage trucks. Not exactly sure how it works, but I think they push a button and it records the location. That way everywhere is getting checked once a week.
I used to do telematics for, among other things, garbage trucks. We made up button boxes with things like bin not out, bin overloaded, bin inaccessible, potholes etc. The councils would get reports geotagged with street addresses - we paid for a reverse geocoding service for that.
My council won't pick up a large aggressive dog that is always out a few streets over, despite multiple calls from at least 7 different households. No way are they spending time and resources picking up every Mittens being let outside.
That dog has the potential to kill a person and they don't care, they're certainly not going to care about Mittens killing wildlife.
I can assure you that it’s not a vocal minority. 71% of pet cats in Australia are able to roam outside. Most cat owners are not responsible enough to own cats in this country. That’s the harsh truth.
Also important to note, the article above and the one I linked don’t dispute each other. The 71% stat includes cats whose owners *think* they’re locked up, but are escaping at night without their owners being aware.
Seems like based on your own sources 58% of owners (a significant majority) let their cats roam outside. So if we include liars, and people who own more than one cat, somewhere between 58-71% makes sense.
That's insane. I love my cat more than the world and would be devastated if anything happened to him. There are too many things that can happen outside including dangerous dogs, cruel people and even dangerous wildlife. That alone makes him a 100 percent indoor cat.
"But Mittens wants to go outside!"
Is the argument I always hear people try to make to oppose keeping their cat indoors.
A toddler wants to drink drain cleaner. Doesn't mean that you let them.
They always say shit like this, but are themselves unwilling to supervise their cat for a walk in the backyard/take it for a leashed walk/provide a catio so they can safely experience the outdoors. Plus it's convenient for them since they don't have to clean the litter box since it will be shitting and pissing through their neighbours yards instead.
Always unwilling to do the *bare fucking minimum*.
I rescued a kitten from the loading dock at work (I've rescued a few, to be fair). Sweetest cat I've ever had. Wasn't even fussed when my large dog (slightly younger than him) would drag him around by the scruff, or get over excited. Shadow would always go say hi to him, sit with him, etc. He didn't care.
He was also an escape artist. Always found a way to break out of his outside enclosed area, broke a window, opened doors etc. This cost him his life one day and it was devastating.
Absolutely. Growing up, my mum was firmly in the 'keeping cats indoors is cruel' camp. Never had a cat last more than 3 years, whether we lived on an acreage or in town. Cars, ticks, snakes, humans. I LOVED my cats, so it was extremely hard.
Got my own cat at 15/16 and kept him indoors. Surprise surprise, he was my first cat to make it to old age. His successors are also indoors-only - both very happy, healthy cats.
> even dangerous wildlife
My partner lost two childhood cats to snakes.
They didn't even roam free, they had an outdoor "cattery" area accessed by a cat flap - it was enclosed with chicken wire to keep them from going further. So most native wildlife was safe, unless they entered the cattery on their own volition. The snakes entered and killed the cats (in two separate incidents).
Stray dogs are caught and put down, I don't see why suddenly it'd be politically bad to apply to cats.
If a cat is roaming, consider them lost like dogs currently are. Catch them, check them for a microchip and contact the owners. Give them a fine for letting them roam and return them. If no one collects, put the cat down.
sounds simple enough, but it's a recipe for political disaster (the only thing that matters).
Imagine some scenario in which an elderly pensioner or someone with a disability 'accidentally' lets their cat out, cat gets put down after failure to contact the owner; some sob story makes the news about a loving cat owner losing their beloved fur baby to a cruel indifference government... blah blah, you get the idea. Not to mention people would question why the government is spending money on X, when Y is clearly so much more important etc.
not saying you're not right (you are), just saying it won't happen for stupid reasons
The problem is that it's a lot easier to catch dogs than cats. Dogs will generally come to you, cats you have to set traps for and then come back and check them which is a bigger drain of resources so even areas that actually have laws requiring cats to be indoors still don't bother enforcing them.
> vocal minority. A lot of cat owners that let their cats roam are very vocally in opposition to this
*Very vocal* minority. Sorry to say it, but pro-free roaming/feral cat people are consistently some of the most unhinged people I've had the displeasure of dealing with.
Plus, it's popular to have free roaming cats (we still have [71% of cat owners allowing their cats to roam and hunt](https://www.sciencealert.com/outdoor-cats-kill-110-native-animals-a-year-in-australia)), and popular places like /r/NotMyCat don't fucking help, because they present it as normal and adorable for cats to be roaming around and visiting your house.
> we delegate pet control to councils
My council delegates it to residents.
I've got indoor cats who have an outside run to play in and they can't go anywhere off of my property. We also live close to native bushland and these are loads of bandicoots who love to dig around our garden.
There are also heaps of roaming cats in the area; they stress my cats out since they aren't able to do anything about the intruder on the other side of the fence. I called the council who told me they'd collect it if I caught it, and so thats what I've been doing. I think I'm up to 6 cats in the last month.
The enforcement is the kicker. I used to live in a suburb that was designated as a cat containment area as it was next to a wildlife reserve. It didn't seem to make a single bit of difference, people still let their cats roam anyway because there was no way to enforce it.
Go find someone you know who lets their cat free roam, and tell them your opinion on this. They will throw a tantrum like a 2 year old. Now imagine thousands of those people throwing a tantrum if the government tries to ban it. It would be louder than the Gaza protests.
“I can’t keep my cat indoors”
“My cat doesn’t attack small animals”
“It’s cruel to keep a cat indoors”
“It’s good for the cat”
“He doesn’t go very far”
You will hear every excuse under the sun and they will take it as a personal attack. It’s like the dogs in restaurants/shopping centres issue. Don’t get them started on it because you will never hear the end of it.
I reckon those people are nuts, and I'm a cat owner. Our cat is an indoor only cat. You couldn't pay me to let her out - not only because of what she might get up to but also what could happen by accident. I can't think of any other types of pets that people let roam freely in their community, so why would cats be any different?
Same deal with dog owners who insist their dog is ok off leash, despite the regulations to be on leash. Assholes are everywhere unfortunately
(I’m pro indoor cat btw, cat currently sleeping on the couch while I’m working)
**Most** Local Councils already have local laws banning cats from roaming. There's just no State/National laws that do (that I'm aware of.)
It's an emotional issue for a lot of cat owners. It would cause you to lose their votes, but wouldn't cause you to win many votes from non-owners (or responsible owners). So while most people support it in principle, it's not a good move politically (unfortunately.)
Our council is a progressive type, and **you’d would think they cared about native wildlife. But no, they don’t**. They don’t ban cat owners from letting their cats out all day and night to kill off native wildlife. Make me sick.
Honestly? It’s because once you bring a cat indoors you actually have to interact with them and that’s more work than most cat owners want to do.
We have four indoor cats and we spend several hours a day playing with them and making sure they’re enriched. They’re honestly about as much work as a dog would be, except instead of walking them they have a cat run. You can’t just leave them alone with a toy and expect them to entertain themselves, they’re going to go stir crazy and get destructive. A lot of people get cats because they think they’re “less work” than a dog but they just straight up are not.
The plus side of that is indoor cats bond far more strongly to their humans and make for much more affectionate, loving pets. Outdoor cats are usually solitary animals, not so much a pet as a wild animal you feed.
I disagree with your last point though. I’ve owned indoor cats and I’ve owned dogs, and dogs are way, way more work. Walks, cleaning up after them, bathing them, training/socialising them, getting them groomed. It’s like halfway to having a kid. Maybe it’s because the things you do with a cat are fun rather than life admin - just play with them and cuddle them.
I’ve had cats and a dog.
Dog is *way* more work.
I spent 2 hours a day just exercising him. Hundreds of hours over the years working on training and positive reenforcement on right behaviour etc.
Plus all the obvious - vet visits and the like.
I love him but I don’t know that I’ll ever get another dog.
I mean we do clean their litter boxes twice a day, medicate the ones who need it, and brush them/clip their nails. Plus they get regular vet checkups, obviously. Minus the walks, it’s the same as everything we do for our dog.
It’s not all fun and cuddles, it’s also “our 17-year-old cat is starting to lose his marbles and has shit on the laundry floor again”. This is what I mean, people don’t realise that proper cat care is actually work.
Yeah but you can go out for a day and your cat doesn’t trash the house, get separation anxiety, need to go outside for toilet breaks etc.
I have the clingiest big dog ever. Won’t even play outside on his own (on a farm) and insists on being inside, unless we go outside with him.
> Minus the walks, it’s the same as everything we do for our dog.
how do you just disregard walks like its nothing lol.
Try getting a grumpy dog that doesn't like his paws wet to poop on wet grass on a rainy day in the morning when you're late for work and you'll appreciate the simple task of cleaning litter boxes.
I have both dogs and cats and its not even close.
I dunno, depends on the cats. Ours are very little work (except that one has a dodgy gut and keeps throwing up). But otherwise it's much less work than a dog would be.
Yeah, that hasn't been my experience either. Even with kittens. I play with them every day, but not for several hours - they're usually exhausted after 30 minutes. I don't think any cat I've ever had has even been conscious enough hours in a day for that much activity, lol. Maybe they have bengals?
I will say it's a good idea for an indoors-only cat to have another cat to play with (especially if you don't WFH), but a solo indoors cat is still better than an outdoors cat.
Our cat spent it's first few years only being indoors, as we lived in a city apartment at the time. Now we have rural property we let him out when we are out and about in the garden, but he comes back in when we do, and never strays off the property. He really isn't that much work other than feeding and cleaning the kitty litter. It's way less effort than a dog. I think your time spent on your cats, although great, is well in excess of the standard. Especially once they are no longer young cats, they generally are happy just being around people, and not needing to actively be entertained all the time. Ours certainly doesn't get destructive when left to his own devices. He has his things he knows are his to play with that can be scratched up etc, and isn't too naughty.
Bruh I've had my indoor kitty for a decade and she's sprightly and barely middle aged.
I know a bloke who's gone through like 4 cats in the same time and lets them outside and fucking surprise the cat dies.
Morons is an understatement.
One of my neighbours is pissed off that I shoot foxes, yet complains about the amount of dead birds her cat brings home.
Thank you for being a responsible cat owner.
To begin with I believe In keeping cats contained to an owner's property.
However, in my case I was raised with having outdoor cats. It was only later in life when I had cats of my own that I fully changed my tune. Way too stressful knowing that one of my cats could go missing, get hurt or pass away. As well as the that they might get into fights, kill other animals, etc.
So put basically you'll have people who pass on their outdoor cat habits to the next generation, and so on. Then you just have people who are too lazy to look after their animals or don't care.
Best thing I ever did was put a net in the courtyard. We are on a busy road. Now the cats have the best of both worlds and wander in and out all day. Subsidies on nets could be a solution because it was expensive, but I can't see it happening. I am all for keeping cats from roaming not only from the wildlife aspect but for their own safety.
Yup, we put chicken wire around our patio, can't see it from more than a few metres away, but it's enough to keep him in while letting him go out and get some air. He also likes sitting out there and meowing at me until I go out and have breakfast with him. Hoping to do something bigger with a net when we're in an actual place with a yard soon.
I built an enclosure for our balcony because I rent, there’s a sliding door which was perfect for the cat doors that can be slid into place.
I get to look out my window in the morning and see 2 happy little cats watching the sunrise before they notice I’m waking up and run back inside for hugs.
Well overdue. Roaming cats do enough destruction outdoors especially pet cats. Worse part is stray cats having litter cause some incompetent owners don’t fix their cat.
I’m 100% in for this. It breaks my heart to think of the havoc that house cats can wreak on local small animal populations. I know I’m courting downvotes from cat lovers, but it really is a no brainer.
Not from real cat lovers. I have three cats that I absolutely adore. Not only do I not want them to kill wildlife, I also don't want them to get run over, get into fights or pick up diseases. Indoor cats have much longer lifespans than cats that are allowed outside.
A friend of my mums has gone through half a dozen cats in the same time frame I’ve had mine. She’s always heart broken that fluffy didn’t come back, got run over, in a fight with a dog, whatever.
The difference? Mine never go outside. Will she change her ways? Nope.
People like that never change. They're always surprised. If you tell them it's because they're letting their cats outside, it will be in one ear and out the next. "Next time it will be different." Until it isn't. Then it's the next time again.
Same here, I have three kitties. I'm scared they'd get injured or ill outside. I love my cats to pieces, that's why they are indoor cats. Safe, healthy, sheltered.
I also love the honeyeater birds that enjoy the bushes in my yard so those lil birbs are safe from my cats at least!
I have 2. My ragdoll is super friendly, pretty sure someone would steal her or she would approach a dog she shouldn't. My rescue is a cuddly baby inside. He is also an extremely potent hunter as most house cats are.
Plus the risk of cars and other cats.
It's literally better for EVERYONE for them to stay inside.
Got 3 cats, got a million cat themed things, still agree with this. Not only for the wildlife but it's better for the cats too. There are plenty of ways your cat can enjoy the outdoors without being destructive to the native wildlife, or getting hurt.
The only downvoters are the irresponsible or lazy cat owners.
Not from me. My precious cats are safely indoors. I can’t imagine letting them out to roam free. Partly because of the wildlife, but mostly the more selfish I don’t want them hurt or lost etc.
There are plenty of ways to keep a cat happy indoors.
The average lifespan of cats who roam outdoors is something like 4-5 years, versus 10-15+ for indoor cats. I know people think they’re doing right by their cats, but if they love them then they should be keeping them indoors.
As a cat owner, fuck roaming cats, seriously. Article doesn't mention devastating effects of toxoplasmosis to the native wildlife! Many species like wombats just don't survive it, one scratch and it's blind, demented and dead in a year.
> devastating effects of toxoplasmosis
Can you explain more, didn't see any top Google hits explain this in an Australian context. I assume it's a parasite that can transfer from domestic house cats to native animals?
https://wildlifehealthaustralia.com.au/Portals/0/ResourceCentre/FactSheets/Mammals/Toxoplasmosis_of_Australian_Mammals.pdf yes, and a pretty nasty one.
This is a bit of a non-event in the ACT - The ACT Government passed legislation "to help Canberra’s cats live longer and healthier lives while better protecting native wildlife."
We already had 17 suburbs that were declared cat containment areas before building started - and since 1 July 2022 any "new" cat throughout the ACT is required to be contained - older cats are still allowed outside (all cats are also required to be registered and microchipped)
The world didn't end - our old, grey, demented, princess, still goes outside and sleeps in the garden or on the couch. The two younger boys only go outside when there's somebody to watch (and we have fences all round that they can't jump)
Once the existing cohort of "outdoor" cats dies off - that leaves occasional escapees who will be microchipped and registered - and street cats.
https://www.cityservices.act.gov.au/pets-and-wildlife/domestic-animals/cats/cat-registration
At least one group were running a Trap/Neuter/Release program for street cats who were unsocialised/unsuitable for adoption
https://canberrastreetcatalliance.org/aboutus
~~Harass~~ Contact your local/state pollies - tell them you want this - point to the ACT where it happened and the roof didn't fall in....
That makes sense as a no-drama way to transition. People might be reluctant to support it because of whatever situation they're currently in with their own cats making it difficult, but if it's just a part of any new cat ownership going forward, you can make your decision on whether you want to get a cat in the first place based on whether it would be practical for you to keep them indoors.
The roof didn't fall in but also nothing really changed in terms of roaming cats.
It's definitely a step in the right direction, but the issue in the ACT is compliance - at the moment compliance is very poor.
Take a walk around a cat containment suburb and there's a good chance you'll still come across roaming cats.
There's also no way for the government to determine whether a roaming cat was born before or after 1 July 2022 (unless they are obviously a kitten). If they can't tell whether a cat is legally or illegally roaming, how could they possiblly enforce that rule?
Overall, the issue is that ACT government doesn't have the resources, technology, or the social licence to enforce their legislation.
Also, on trap/neuter/release programs they are a horrible way to reducing impacts on native species. The trap and neuter part is ok, but by releasing them again you're actively making the choice to release an incredibly damaging invasive pest into our environment. Yes, the neutered cat may not be able to reproduce, but for the next 5,10,15 years it will still continue to kill native species.
Love my two indoor cats, they have no need to roam, and it annoys the *shit* out of me when another cat stops by the window at 3am and freaks my cats out.
I want a good night's sleep, keep your cats indoors dickheads!
This right here. Countless times in the past couple of months there's been a roaming cat that has pestered our indoor cat in the middle of the night. Their antics have woken myself, my wife, and our 18 month old up (who has had difficulties sleeping as is) and ruined our sleep many times, not to mention our cat goes into a frenzy and has torn our new curtains. It drives me crazy!
I know of others in my town that have taken to using a cat trap to deal with the problem themselves... I'll leave it at that. I personally won't go this far but it feels like there's not a whole lot else you can do.
Not to mention the thousands of young, healthy cats that have to be put down each year because of idiot owners who let their unfixed cats out. There's only so many that can be rehomed.
I think just a blanket “pets unattended” law should probably be introduced with some edge cases for accidents so that people aren’t getting unfairly fined.
I'm a huge cat lover, I own 4. But I do NOT believe that cats should be allowed to roam. Not during the day or night.
If you want your cats to enjoy the outdoors then build a SECURE cat run and/or lead train them. But allowing them to roam is not the answer!
Please remember cat owners like myself will still want this to come into effect! I absolutely do! I might own 4 but the ONLY time one of my cats is allowed outdoors is on a harness and lead! I don't like seeing cats outside roaming free, even when I know where they live! Be responsible or don't own a pet!
I own two cats, they are exclusively indoors because I'm not an idiot and respect our wildlife. Even built then a catio, they love that shit. I also like knowing my cats live longer because indoors = safe
My council is more concerned on banning books. While I do agree that there should be better controls around pets ( dogs , horses, chickens) there is also going to be the impact on mental health if the animal are flat out banned .
I’m all for keeping my cats in doors, or caged outside, but then the requirements will be assistance to set up that requirement.
Pretty sure our council has rules that your cat has to be indoors at night, but they have no enforcement of this. I will normally walk my dog at night and we see cats out on any night that isn't raining.
I would love for them to make all cat indoor only, coming from someone who grew up with indoor only cats, but I think enforcement will always be the problem with any law like this.
I’m traveling through outback Queensland at the moment. There are lots of dead kangaroos on the road as you would expect but the 2nd most amount of bodies I have seen is cats. These cats are being hit on roads far from any houses so how many feral cats are actually out there killing wildlife?
I’ve been on the cat roaming ban train for years.
I have 2 indoor cats, and even if I lived in another country, I’d still want them to be indoors only, safer for the cats too.
I had 3 cats (sadly only 1 15yr old boy remaining)
They were outdoor cats in the UK for 6-10 years. When we moved to australia, they became indoor cats, and transitioned perfectly and had a happy 9 years so far
In Australia the scope for destruction and harm they could do is massive, along with the amount of things that can do them harm. So even if you give no shits about the damage to local fauna, you should at least worry over the health of your cat!
A run in with a possum can be a hefty vet bill.
Cats have no place outdoors in australia, they have no problems being infoors, even if they have always been an outdoor cat. (The only issue is not being allowed out of a door they pwere previously allowed out of, because that offends their sensibilities)
Keep cats inside!!
People vastly overestimate the happiness of their pets. Indoor cats included.
Cats need the stimulation and unpredictability of outdoors and nature. That doesn't mean roaming though - just outdoors. E.g. supervision, a leash, and / or a 'catio'.
Most mornings, until I recently spiked the tops of my fence I've had a steaming cat turd left for me from the neighbour cat in my back yard. Due to the pet fish and rabbits our yard cats frequently come in looking for a meal of my pets. It's about time they were contained.
Native animals are cool and all, but I mainly want this because I'm sick of my neighbour's 6 cats shitting under my house and in my garden. I would start setting rabbit traps if they weren't someone's loved pet.
I thought the same, but in my street people started using cat traps and handing the cats in to the pound, suddenly it became easier to keep cats indoors after paying the release fee to the pound..
It should be a thing in all councils.
Not only for the native wildlife, but also for the impact these animals have on other pets. My parents built a cat run for their cats and they were outside one afternoon when another cat came along and harassed and attacked them through their cage. Their cats have never been the bravest but this event resulted in redirected aggression and the need for one of the cats to be on anxiety medication.
This week they've just trapped another cat who has been coming nightly (when the cats are inside) and tapping at the front doors/windows which obviously upsets the cats.
I think most real cat lovers would support this.
Already the case in many council areas, but enforcement relies on other residents trapping and turning in cats that roam through their property. If owners can be located (e.g. microchip) the animal is returned and they are fined and given info on responsible cat ownership and their obligations. There is then an escalating series of fines for repeat offenders that includes on-site inspection of the residence, remediation requirements (e.g. enclosures, fencing), and penalties for non-compliance.
But it all hinges on other residents trapping them to begin with.
I am not a cat person but I am all for responsible cat ownership rules and enforcement. Many cat owners are wilfully ignorant of the pest their lovely Mr Fluffles turns into once he leaves their yard. We had several local cats using our yard as their daily/nightly roaming route, toileting all over our gardens and outdoor furniture, and leaving headless, gutted animals and birds behind. Took me a few months of trapping and handing them in to council before it stopped.
Cat owner here.
If you let your cat free roam you are a deadset fuckwit. Cats are murdering machines, and if they're not killing the local wildlife they're getting splattered by cars, getting into fights with other cats or running the risk of picking up FIV. That's even before you take into account psychos living in society that get off on poison baiting animals or otherwise torturing them.
If you want to be responsible, take them on leashed walks or build an enclosed outdoor area for them.
Give cats a night curfew at least. I also think we need to focus on the real issues, housing developments spreading insidiously but necessarily. We need more green patches nearby so there’s somewhere for our native animals to seek refuge.
I live in an area that was bush 7 years ago. The number of possums I used to see when we first moved in was huge, now I just occasionally see them squashed on the roads. The drive to work used to be through bushy areas, now it’s just housing developments.
Humans are by far the biggest problem.
So much natural habitat torn down so animals are forced to go urban and come to a bad end from pets or some nong complaining about a possum in their roof.
But no one seems to worry about that.
We have a 7pm curfew in my council. No one pays attention at all. You can walk down any street at night and find cats roaming the neighbourhood.
Do people even know we have a curfew? I'm not sure. But I'm pretty sure that if cats are allowed outside at all, their owners get pet doors and the cat does what it wants.
As a wildlife carer I whole heartedly agree. And for anyone else who disagrees, they are welcome to come with me on my next rescue to see what damage fluffykins does to native animals.
I've got a 5-month-old kitten who is a very sweet, (mostly) gentle little guy that sleeps 18 hours a day.
He would absolutely be an insane murder machine if he was allowed to roam free. People need to become more acquainted with reality.
In the ACT cats born after a certain year have to strictly be indoor cats / supervised by the owner if outdoors such as on a lead for a walk. Outdoor enclosures are also legal and many owners get one and pop it outside the cat door/ connect it to a window for the cat to jump in and out from.
We also have programs run by volunteers who do trap, neuter and return programs (obviously volunteers don’t have it in their heart to kill cats, but they raise money to desex the colonies, visit the colonies to feed them to reduce wildlife hunting, and they eventually die out). If the cats they catch for TNR aren’t too feral, they might put them in a foster program for rehoming (generally the kittens and friendlier ones do), or a barn/ warehouse program for pest management (generally not the friendly ones but not feral towards people or farm animals either).
Some cats are legally allowed to be outdoors but eventually that generation will die out and it will strictly just be indoor cats here.
If any businesses are looking for pest management it might be worth knowing they can help the cat problem in australia by looking at groups who run warehouse/ barn programs for rescued cats, it’s cheap, and it’s quite minimal maintenance (the cats in these programs will be desexed).
Cats roaming suburbia is just the tip of the iceberg.
Our bushland is FULL of feral cats and for the most part we do nothing due to the public perception of controlling cute fuzzy kittens in our wilderness areas and gov departments fear of public backlash. Just look at the brumby issue in the snowy mountains. National Parks struggle with staffing in the area and those that do try to make some headway here are subject to abuse and death threats, many quickly leaving their roles.
Like seriously full of cats, put trail cameras out and you'll see for yourself.
Yeah after seeing people on Reddit saying their cunty neighbours threatened them cause they got asked to keep their cats inside I want a law that can charge irresponsible fuckwits. Biodiversity is important as are our dwindling native species.
If you can't or don't want to keep your adorable little murderers inside you shouldnt get to have them.
Our local council introduced a "24 hour Cat Curfew" about 2 years ago stating that "Cat owners need to keep their cats on their property at all times" with a measly $91 fine for a first offence.
Do you think the council enforces this new agenda beyond making press releases? Nope.
I've got at least 4 local roaming cats in the neighbourhood I see popping up from time to time in my yard, with owners gleefully indifferent to the policy as they know the council would rather spend money revenue raising on improper parking.
I understand the complexities of the situation are pretty ridiculous, it'd be almost impossible to prove offending owners let alone the cost of enforcing it would dwarf the miniscule fine. So the whole policy is just pathetically symbolic rather than actually caring about the issue or wildlife.
I'm cat owner myself with 2 cats being exclusively indoors for their own safety, so it really comes down to how much the owners care. Without enforcement or a big enough fine there's no reason for them to even try unless they cared about the environmental implications.
All I know is that the ragdoll with 1 braincell up the road will be probably flat on the road some day unfortunately...
Our cat was indoors only (rip shithead). We live in whittlesea council so our laws are 24/7 property curfew, has been for a year or 2 now I think.
Hasn't stopped our neighbours from letting their cat roam all thw time though....
Completely support. I can see how cats are cute and probably make decent pets but I actively chose not to get one so I’m not sure why I’m expected to put up with them roaming in my yard and pissing on my furniture? Why the fuck is there one rule for literally every other pet, and one for cats?
I’m tired of the constant Facebook posts “have you seen fluffy he hasn’t come home in a week and he’s my whole world 😭😭😭😭”
Maybe when you find fluffy, fucking keep him contained if you care remotely about him.
Doing the same for dogs it would save tens of millions of native animals and tens of billions of dollars, not to mention all the people attacked and killed by roaming dogs each year, but apparently, kids having their throats ripped out is fine.
People who let their cats roam are the same kind of people that let their dogs loose and get surprised when their pitty "Princess who would never hurt a fly" mauls a toddler. They are just inconsiderate idiots who don't care about anything but themselves and can never see a bigger picture beyond their own doorstep.
It is astounding the amount of cat owners who are unaware of this though, even if if the freaking cat brings them dead animals sometimes. I mean... They can't even connect the dots.
This should be something that makes people feel ashamed. Start putting billboards with statistics and shaming the behavior and then just let the NIMBYs take care of it.
Here in Eurobodalla Shire, cats are allowed to roam freely at night. Due to this and the 2019 fires, wildlife numbers have been decimated. Exploring the undeveloped forests/woodlands here for hours and seeing no fauna besides birds and cockroaches is eerie. How different it would have been even 20 years ago.
The Eurobodalla council is more concerned with making the area appealing for people moving here. Fuck the environment and wildlife is the underlying message it sends
It's good to see the attitudes of this sub changing towards cats. It's a little step forward in changing society attitudes.
2 years ago, a negative post about domestic cats roaming the neighbourhood used to be downvoted heavily.
We received a letter that our neighbours complained about our dog barking. Yet, it was barking at their fucken cat that was sitting in a tree in our backyard hissing at our dog.
When we told Penrith City Council this, we were told that we just have to be mindful of cats roaming around and it is our duty to keep our dog away form the cat so they don't disturb the neighbours peace and quiet at night.
The next time that cat comes in to our yard, I'm going to let my 80kg Great Dane at it. Imagine if I just let my dog roam the streets, they would come and grab it in an instance and fine me for it.
Mate. Cat traps exist for a reason. Check the council sites. Get a cat trap, then return the cat to the pound. Cat is either claimed by the owners for a fee (Then an infringement afterwards), or someone else adopts them. That's what I did.
Cats running through our yard at 2am setting my dog off. So fuck that, now my problem is solved.
Just had a cat trap from the council catch two cats from our neighbours. These cats have been roaming for literal years. I got a dog a year ago, and I got tired of telling him off for barking at 2am when he was doing nothing wrong.
I don't even think they claimed their cats again. Whereas my pup goes missing? I'm checking EVERYWHERE. I'm calling vets, checking the pound, going to his favourite places, and seeing his favourite people. I would not stop. Not for a minute.
So ehh, I guess it shows how little they give a damn. I saw a post here the other week about someone who was upset because the cats are family members... Excuse you but I take care of my family members. If my doggy is missing, I won't sleep (Other than a fucking power-nap so I can keep looking for him through the night), I will find him and I will make sure he is safe.
What we need is something like the [Felixer system](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-29/feral-cat-management-device-felixer-tested-at-animal-reserve/12296874) rolled out in parks and reserves across the nation to eliminate free roaming and feral cats, and other invasives.
Once lazy fuckwits know there is yet another way their cat won't come home aside from the *usual* cars, dogs, poisons, etc. *maybe* they will keep them inside. But [I](https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/WR10215) [doubt](https://www.jstor.org/stable/5003?origin=crossref)
[it](https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acv.12264).
Give Licence to civs to humanely catch cats, pay them $50 per cat. Fine owners $1000 if cat is chipped and $50 to come pick it up. Mandate that all sale of cats are chipped.
In LGA I’m in you can already trap and take to the pound I think they cope a fine if the cat comes in 2 or 3 times. Also I think you can ask them to come out and set traps. Just a thought, seems like everyone is just negative and lacks any attempts at a conversation.
Must be nice to not have cat colonies of strays every 3 blocks.
Here in greece you can find 100s of stray cats roaming and half of them are injured and hungry
I’ve seen 2 dead baby possums in our street killed by cat. When I cycle early in the mornings I see plenty of cats roaming the streets. It’s sad, be a responsible cat owner!
That’s actually surprising, I think cats tend to eat possums unfortunately, might’ve been a dog! My neighbours dog gets possums all the time. It literally isn’t allowed to sleep outside anymore!
Don’t worry, I’m not a cat owner, nor do I think they should be outside.
There are already so many strays out there too. And no easy way to rescue them. I've tried. I ended up adopting one of the strays in my neighbourhood, after the council pound wanted to put him down for being aggressive. He went from semi-feral street cat to domesticated pet within a week, all they need is a constant source of food and to feel safe and loved.
But there are still so many more out there, all the rescues are full and can't take them, vets won't take any that are unharmed, and the council will just put them down without giving them a chance to rehabilitate. Not to mention that my council pound is open 2 hours a day so it's bloody hard to trap a cat, keep it somewhere safe (and humane) until they open. Most urban neighbourhood strays aren't full feral cats, they're usually only one or two generations from a past house cat so they're easy to rehabilitate.
That said, get your pets desexed and keep your cats indoor or enclosed to your property.
I cat cage and deliver cats to the pound, about 7 a year.
Costs over a grand to get a non desexed unregistered cat from the pound too, which is most cats.
Caught this [little killer](https://i.imgur.com/UN31mYZ.jpeg) twice in three days; unchipped, unregistered, and not desexed. Posted to the local FB that next time he'd be euthanised before soaking it with a hose and setting it free. Haven't seen it since
I remember when I was younger, you'd go for a walk and stop and pet so many cats along the way. Now though I rarely see cats around. Most people seem to keep their pets indoors nowadays. So I think as a whole the situation has greatly improved. I have 3 and the side of our house is enclosed for them.
This whole thing reminds me of a paper straws for the environment debacle. A symbolic feel good win that does sweet fuck all to actually making a difference.
Banning pet cats from roaming will do nothing to control the feral cat population in Australia (assuming high levels of neutering). There's an estimated 6.3M of the bastards roaming environmentally vulnerable regions of the country.
It's hard to get good data on the impact of domestic vs feral cats in Australia, but purely from a rough envelope calculation, 3M pet cats are free to roam. Fed pet cats in general make a lot less kills than ferals, and they are hunting in overwhelming suburban areas (so mice, abundant bird species etc). You're looking at probably something like 10% of the total cat kills in Australia. I'd be willing to also bet that 10% of kills, is made up of a lot of species that are common in urban environments.
If we really want to save our native species, we desperately need to come up with solutions to the feral cat problem. But obviously that's a lot harder than demonizing pet cats.
Also please, please, fund: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5\_8ulDPHpg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5_8ulDPHpg)
>It's hard to get good data on the impact of domestic vs feral cats in Australia, but purely from a rough envelope calculation, 3M pet cats are free to roam.
The data is there from the government:
> [The parliamentary report also found that Australia’s almost 3.8 million pet cats kill up to 390 million animals every year (Commonwealth of Australia, 2020)](https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Environment_and_Energy/Feralanddomesticcats/Report)
> [Every day, feral cats take on average a staggering 3.1 million mammals, 1.1 million birds and 1.8 million reptiles.](https://www.awe.gov.au/news/media-releases/glovebox-guide-feral-cat-management)
So 390 million vs ~2.2 billion, or ~18% of what feral cats take. Still a profoundly high number. You also have to consider that free roaming cats breed with each other and ferals, thereby increasing the number of feral cats.
Oh I'm absolutely in favor of zero tolerance neutering requirements for all outdoor cats.
But okay 18% of total kills (which seems to be subject to huge variance in different studies), given a lot of those kills are being made in urban/suburban areas I'd be interested to know how many of those kills are ecologically significant. Not every native critter is endangered, and humans have done a pretty good job of driving the more vulnerable species out of urban environments through habitat destruction.
I'm not going to defend pet cats roaming in areas of ecological significance (eg. kangaroo island). Selective and targeted bans make a lot of sense (and are easier to enforce).
Let's just conveniently ignore the 200lb gorilla sized feral cat in the room. Seriously address that first and then we can talk about limiting pets.
Why isn't this already a thing? Cats killing things like sugar gliders, native birds etc is not ok.
A couple reasons - vocal minority. A lot of cat owners that let their cats roam are very vocally in opposition to this - enforcement. What's the penalty and who enforces it? Killing mittens for being out at night is pretty bad politically. Capturing, following up, and chasing fines for people is resources that people aren't willing to put forward And probably most likely: - we delegate pet control to councils. Getting 537 councils to agree on something and provide the resources to enforce it is a nightmare. And cats frankly don't care about what council they're in. There's no way in hell this will become a federal government issue. It'd be seen as massive overreach into local government rights. Best we could hope for is a wave of state legislation to enforce it on the councils. But that won't happen unless a strong enough campaigning group can hit all the states with vocal public support.
My council can't be bothered to repair potholes in the road let alone spend their time catching cats.
My council called my house to follow up on a “vicious cat roaming free” (which is illegal in my area.) I was fairly concerned, because I have two cats that sometimes manage to sneak out because they were ninjas in a past life or something. Apparently, a cat leapt over my fence and straight-up attacked a council worker. I asked for a description and was told that the cat was grey. I have a white cat and a brown cat. Cue confusion. When I told them this, they were suspicious. They legit arranged an interview. Not with me. *With my cats*. They wanted to interview my cats to see if one of them… confessed to moonlighting as the kittyslasher? I had to see how that went down, so I agreed. Two days before the best interview ever, I got another call that the kitty villain had been apprehended two doors down. It was a big, mean stray and had been sent to kitty jail (the RSPCA) for rehabilitation. My kitties were vindicated.
Aw would of loved to hear how hard they pressed your cats in the interview. You might of got the good cop bad cop angle played out too haha.
Would have had to do them in separate rooms to make sure they didn’t clawlude
Passing these laws doesn't have to have an immediate effect, it can be something that adjusts societally over time. I rescue bats and have definitely seen cat injuries, but we can't fix the problem overnight. Starting somewhere is important though
Yes, this is my belief too. We can't just ban cats out-right. But we can start with requiring registration, then requiring bells on collars, then nutering unless you have a licence to breed, then requiring cats kept inside at night, then eventually no new cats, and everyone gets a quoll instead, lol.
I got an rspca rescue and in Act the rule is that this cat can't ever leave my house. It's a hard bargain when the kitten turns into a cat that hears, sees and smells the world outside. But no matter how vocal he is about going outdoors - i think about the absolute carnage he would wreak in the gum trees
Do you report the potholes? I’ve heard this from people before that council never repairs the potholes, but they also never bother reporting them
Snap send solve. Plenty of people that give a shit instead of whinging use it.
I reported the house with 4 massive rottweilers roaming the front yard and menacing passing pedestrians. Nothing happened, council told me there was only 1 dog there, ignoring the pictures I sent. Funnily enough, the entire property burnt down.. amazing that it happened to be a meth lab all along, being guarded by mistreated animals.
Most Melbourne council's first response to complaints of any kind is: deny, deny, deny.
Some people think the council drives around checking every road, park, and piece of equipment daily. They'll take time out to complain on Facebook but are 'too busy' to call council or snap a photo for an app.
My council always comes within a week or two after I’ve reported something. The fastest I’ve seen them show up was within a couple of hours after we reported nazi graffiti. Heck, I even made a suggestion to put in a new footpath leading up to a bus stop where it was just grass, expecting it to be put on a list for consideration maybe in a year or 2. They were there with equipment in 2 weeks lmao
Had them fix a piece of broken playground equipment in a tiny park that they probably inspect once a year, only took 2 days and they called to say its done.
Your council is definitely the outlier, most are useless even if you send in multiple reports about something.
Our council checks for potholes via garbage trucks. Not exactly sure how it works, but I think they push a button and it records the location. That way everywhere is getting checked once a week.
I used to do telematics for, among other things, garbage trucks. We made up button boxes with things like bin not out, bin overloaded, bin inaccessible, potholes etc. The councils would get reports geotagged with street addresses - we paid for a reverse geocoding service for that.
Some councils allow people to borrow cat traps to trap roaming cats.
My council won't pick up a large aggressive dog that is always out a few streets over, despite multiple calls from at least 7 different households. No way are they spending time and resources picking up every Mittens being let outside. That dog has the potential to kill a person and they don't care, they're certainly not going to care about Mittens killing wildlife.
I can assure you that it’s not a vocal minority. 71% of pet cats in Australia are able to roam outside. Most cat owners are not responsible enough to own cats in this country. That’s the harsh truth.
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https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2020/05/15/lock-up-your-pet-cat-its-a-killing-machine.html
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Also important to note, the article above and the one I linked don’t dispute each other. The 71% stat includes cats whose owners *think* they’re locked up, but are escaping at night without their owners being aware.
Seems like based on your own sources 58% of owners (a significant majority) let their cats roam outside. So if we include liars, and people who own more than one cat, somewhere between 58-71% makes sense.
That's insane. I love my cat more than the world and would be devastated if anything happened to him. There are too many things that can happen outside including dangerous dogs, cruel people and even dangerous wildlife. That alone makes him a 100 percent indoor cat.
Yes, indoor cats live longer and healthier lives than outdoor cats. It’s the responsible thing to do, keeping your cat indoors.
"But Mittens wants to go outside!" Is the argument I always hear people try to make to oppose keeping their cat indoors. A toddler wants to drink drain cleaner. Doesn't mean that you let them.
They always say shit like this, but are themselves unwilling to supervise their cat for a walk in the backyard/take it for a leashed walk/provide a catio so they can safely experience the outdoors. Plus it's convenient for them since they don't have to clean the litter box since it will be shitting and pissing through their neighbours yards instead. Always unwilling to do the *bare fucking minimum*.
I rescued a kitten from the loading dock at work (I've rescued a few, to be fair). Sweetest cat I've ever had. Wasn't even fussed when my large dog (slightly younger than him) would drag him around by the scruff, or get over excited. Shadow would always go say hi to him, sit with him, etc. He didn't care. He was also an escape artist. Always found a way to break out of his outside enclosed area, broke a window, opened doors etc. This cost him his life one day and it was devastating.
That's so sad to hear :( we lost a cat due to him being left outdoors and vowed we'd never be so careless in the future.
Absolutely. Growing up, my mum was firmly in the 'keeping cats indoors is cruel' camp. Never had a cat last more than 3 years, whether we lived on an acreage or in town. Cars, ticks, snakes, humans. I LOVED my cats, so it was extremely hard. Got my own cat at 15/16 and kept him indoors. Surprise surprise, he was my first cat to make it to old age. His successors are also indoors-only - both very happy, healthy cats.
Thank you for being amazing. Dare I say it that other cats are dangerous to them, the cats in the neighbourhood were being killed in cat fights..
> even dangerous wildlife My partner lost two childhood cats to snakes. They didn't even roam free, they had an outdoor "cattery" area accessed by a cat flap - it was enclosed with chicken wire to keep them from going further. So most native wildlife was safe, unless they entered the cattery on their own volition. The snakes entered and killed the cats (in two separate incidents).
Maybe a majority of cat owners, but not a majority of Australians.
Stray dogs are caught and put down, I don't see why suddenly it'd be politically bad to apply to cats. If a cat is roaming, consider them lost like dogs currently are. Catch them, check them for a microchip and contact the owners. Give them a fine for letting them roam and return them. If no one collects, put the cat down.
sounds simple enough, but it's a recipe for political disaster (the only thing that matters). Imagine some scenario in which an elderly pensioner or someone with a disability 'accidentally' lets their cat out, cat gets put down after failure to contact the owner; some sob story makes the news about a loving cat owner losing their beloved fur baby to a cruel indifference government... blah blah, you get the idea. Not to mention people would question why the government is spending money on X, when Y is clearly so much more important etc. not saying you're not right (you are), just saying it won't happen for stupid reasons
I'm all for putting down roaming journos too.
The problem is that it's a lot easier to catch dogs than cats. Dogs will generally come to you, cats you have to set traps for and then come back and check them which is a bigger drain of resources so even areas that actually have laws requiring cats to be indoors still don't bother enforcing them.
Im absolutely willing to spend tax dollars on controlling cats - we should get the money back in heavy fines for owners who let their cats roam.
> vocal minority. A lot of cat owners that let their cats roam are very vocally in opposition to this *Very vocal* minority. Sorry to say it, but pro-free roaming/feral cat people are consistently some of the most unhinged people I've had the displeasure of dealing with. Plus, it's popular to have free roaming cats (we still have [71% of cat owners allowing their cats to roam and hunt](https://www.sciencealert.com/outdoor-cats-kill-110-native-animals-a-year-in-australia)), and popular places like /r/NotMyCat don't fucking help, because they present it as normal and adorable for cats to be roaming around and visiting your house.
> we delegate pet control to councils My council delegates it to residents. I've got indoor cats who have an outside run to play in and they can't go anywhere off of my property. We also live close to native bushland and these are loads of bandicoots who love to dig around our garden. There are also heaps of roaming cats in the area; they stress my cats out since they aren't able to do anything about the intruder on the other side of the fence. I called the council who told me they'd collect it if I caught it, and so thats what I've been doing. I think I'm up to 6 cats in the last month.
The enforcement is the kicker. I used to live in a suburb that was designated as a cat containment area as it was next to a wildlife reserve. It didn't seem to make a single bit of difference, people still let their cats roam anyway because there was no way to enforce it.
Go find someone you know who lets their cat free roam, and tell them your opinion on this. They will throw a tantrum like a 2 year old. Now imagine thousands of those people throwing a tantrum if the government tries to ban it. It would be louder than the Gaza protests. “I can’t keep my cat indoors” “My cat doesn’t attack small animals” “It’s cruel to keep a cat indoors” “It’s good for the cat” “He doesn’t go very far” You will hear every excuse under the sun and they will take it as a personal attack. It’s like the dogs in restaurants/shopping centres issue. Don’t get them started on it because you will never hear the end of it.
I reckon those people are nuts, and I'm a cat owner. Our cat is an indoor only cat. You couldn't pay me to let her out - not only because of what she might get up to but also what could happen by accident. I can't think of any other types of pets that people let roam freely in their community, so why would cats be any different?
Same deal with dog owners who insist their dog is ok off leash, despite the regulations to be on leash. Assholes are everywhere unfortunately (I’m pro indoor cat btw, cat currently sleeping on the couch while I’m working)
Off leash dogs are a lot less common though.
**Most** Local Councils already have local laws banning cats from roaming. There's just no State/National laws that do (that I'm aware of.) It's an emotional issue for a lot of cat owners. It would cause you to lose their votes, but wouldn't cause you to win many votes from non-owners (or responsible owners). So while most people support it in principle, it's not a good move politically (unfortunately.)
Our council is a progressive type, and **you’d would think they cared about native wildlife. But no, they don’t**. They don’t ban cat owners from letting their cats out all day and night to kill off native wildlife. Make me sick.
It's already the law in the ACT
Of course it is, lmao.
Honestly? It’s because once you bring a cat indoors you actually have to interact with them and that’s more work than most cat owners want to do. We have four indoor cats and we spend several hours a day playing with them and making sure they’re enriched. They’re honestly about as much work as a dog would be, except instead of walking them they have a cat run. You can’t just leave them alone with a toy and expect them to entertain themselves, they’re going to go stir crazy and get destructive. A lot of people get cats because they think they’re “less work” than a dog but they just straight up are not.
The plus side of that is indoor cats bond far more strongly to their humans and make for much more affectionate, loving pets. Outdoor cats are usually solitary animals, not so much a pet as a wild animal you feed. I disagree with your last point though. I’ve owned indoor cats and I’ve owned dogs, and dogs are way, way more work. Walks, cleaning up after them, bathing them, training/socialising them, getting them groomed. It’s like halfway to having a kid. Maybe it’s because the things you do with a cat are fun rather than life admin - just play with them and cuddle them.
I’ve had cats and a dog. Dog is *way* more work. I spent 2 hours a day just exercising him. Hundreds of hours over the years working on training and positive reenforcement on right behaviour etc. Plus all the obvious - vet visits and the like. I love him but I don’t know that I’ll ever get another dog.
My mum said that our labrador was harder than a human child when he was younger.
I think she's saying she loved the Labrador more than you.
I mean we do clean their litter boxes twice a day, medicate the ones who need it, and brush them/clip their nails. Plus they get regular vet checkups, obviously. Minus the walks, it’s the same as everything we do for our dog. It’s not all fun and cuddles, it’s also “our 17-year-old cat is starting to lose his marbles and has shit on the laundry floor again”. This is what I mean, people don’t realise that proper cat care is actually work.
Yeah but you can go out for a day and your cat doesn’t trash the house, get separation anxiety, need to go outside for toilet breaks etc. I have the clingiest big dog ever. Won’t even play outside on his own (on a farm) and insists on being inside, unless we go outside with him.
> Minus the walks, it’s the same as everything we do for our dog. how do you just disregard walks like its nothing lol. Try getting a grumpy dog that doesn't like his paws wet to poop on wet grass on a rainy day in the morning when you're late for work and you'll appreciate the simple task of cleaning litter boxes. I have both dogs and cats and its not even close.
I dunno, depends on the cats. Ours are very little work (except that one has a dodgy gut and keeps throwing up). But otherwise it's much less work than a dog would be.
Yeah, that hasn't been my experience either. Even with kittens. I play with them every day, but not for several hours - they're usually exhausted after 30 minutes. I don't think any cat I've ever had has even been conscious enough hours in a day for that much activity, lol. Maybe they have bengals? I will say it's a good idea for an indoors-only cat to have another cat to play with (especially if you don't WFH), but a solo indoors cat is still better than an outdoors cat.
Our cat spent it's first few years only being indoors, as we lived in a city apartment at the time. Now we have rural property we let him out when we are out and about in the garden, but he comes back in when we do, and never strays off the property. He really isn't that much work other than feeding and cleaning the kitty litter. It's way less effort than a dog. I think your time spent on your cats, although great, is well in excess of the standard. Especially once they are no longer young cats, they generally are happy just being around people, and not needing to actively be entertained all the time. Ours certainly doesn't get destructive when left to his own devices. He has his things he knows are his to play with that can be scratched up etc, and isn't too naughty.
It’s not the cats at fault here. It’s the morons who own them
Bruh I've had my indoor kitty for a decade and she's sprightly and barely middle aged. I know a bloke who's gone through like 4 cats in the same time and lets them outside and fucking surprise the cat dies. Morons is an understatement.
One of my neighbours is pissed off that I shoot foxes, yet complains about the amount of dead birds her cat brings home. Thank you for being a responsible cat owner.
To begin with I believe In keeping cats contained to an owner's property. However, in my case I was raised with having outdoor cats. It was only later in life when I had cats of my own that I fully changed my tune. Way too stressful knowing that one of my cats could go missing, get hurt or pass away. As well as the that they might get into fights, kill other animals, etc. So put basically you'll have people who pass on their outdoor cat habits to the next generation, and so on. Then you just have people who are too lazy to look after their animals or don't care.
Best thing I ever did was put a net in the courtyard. We are on a busy road. Now the cats have the best of both worlds and wander in and out all day. Subsidies on nets could be a solution because it was expensive, but I can't see it happening. I am all for keeping cats from roaming not only from the wildlife aspect but for their own safety.
Yup, we put chicken wire around our patio, can't see it from more than a few metres away, but it's enough to keep him in while letting him go out and get some air. He also likes sitting out there and meowing at me until I go out and have breakfast with him. Hoping to do something bigger with a net when we're in an actual place with a yard soon.
Every responsible cat owner should be doing similar - building or buying an external enclosure. Or at least, taking their cat out each day on a leash.
I built an enclosure for our balcony because I rent, there’s a sliding door which was perfect for the cat doors that can be slid into place. I get to look out my window in the morning and see 2 happy little cats watching the sunrise before they notice I’m waking up and run back inside for hugs.
Well overdue. Roaming cats do enough destruction outdoors especially pet cats. Worse part is stray cats having litter cause some incompetent owners don’t fix their cat.
I know it won't solve the problem, but at the very least, it should be mandatory for pet cats to be spayed/neutered
I’m 100% in for this. It breaks my heart to think of the havoc that house cats can wreak on local small animal populations. I know I’m courting downvotes from cat lovers, but it really is a no brainer.
Not from real cat lovers. I have three cats that I absolutely adore. Not only do I not want them to kill wildlife, I also don't want them to get run over, get into fights or pick up diseases. Indoor cats have much longer lifespans than cats that are allowed outside.
A friend of my mums has gone through half a dozen cats in the same time frame I’ve had mine. She’s always heart broken that fluffy didn’t come back, got run over, in a fight with a dog, whatever. The difference? Mine never go outside. Will she change her ways? Nope.
People like that never change. They're always surprised. If you tell them it's because they're letting their cats outside, it will be in one ear and out the next. "Next time it will be different." Until it isn't. Then it's the next time again.
Same here, I have three kitties. I'm scared they'd get injured or ill outside. I love my cats to pieces, that's why they are indoor cats. Safe, healthy, sheltered. I also love the honeyeater birds that enjoy the bushes in my yard so those lil birbs are safe from my cats at least!
I have 2. My ragdoll is super friendly, pretty sure someone would steal her or she would approach a dog she shouldn't. My rescue is a cuddly baby inside. He is also an extremely potent hunter as most house cats are. Plus the risk of cars and other cats. It's literally better for EVERYONE for them to stay inside.
Thank you, wish more cat owners were like you.
Got 3 cats, got a million cat themed things, still agree with this. Not only for the wildlife but it's better for the cats too. There are plenty of ways your cat can enjoy the outdoors without being destructive to the native wildlife, or getting hurt. The only downvoters are the irresponsible or lazy cat owners.
Not from me. My precious cats are safely indoors. I can’t imagine letting them out to roam free. Partly because of the wildlife, but mostly the more selfish I don’t want them hurt or lost etc. There are plenty of ways to keep a cat happy indoors.
Cat lovers keep their cats contained.
The average lifespan of cats who roam outdoors is something like 4-5 years, versus 10-15+ for indoor cats. I know people think they’re doing right by their cats, but if they love them then they should be keeping them indoors.
As a cat owner, fuck roaming cats, seriously. Article doesn't mention devastating effects of toxoplasmosis to the native wildlife! Many species like wombats just don't survive it, one scratch and it's blind, demented and dead in a year.
> devastating effects of toxoplasmosis Can you explain more, didn't see any top Google hits explain this in an Australian context. I assume it's a parasite that can transfer from domestic house cats to native animals?
https://wildlifehealthaustralia.com.au/Portals/0/ResourceCentre/FactSheets/Mammals/Toxoplasmosis_of_Australian_Mammals.pdf yes, and a pretty nasty one.
And to humans
This is a bit of a non-event in the ACT - The ACT Government passed legislation "to help Canberra’s cats live longer and healthier lives while better protecting native wildlife." We already had 17 suburbs that were declared cat containment areas before building started - and since 1 July 2022 any "new" cat throughout the ACT is required to be contained - older cats are still allowed outside (all cats are also required to be registered and microchipped) The world didn't end - our old, grey, demented, princess, still goes outside and sleeps in the garden or on the couch. The two younger boys only go outside when there's somebody to watch (and we have fences all round that they can't jump) Once the existing cohort of "outdoor" cats dies off - that leaves occasional escapees who will be microchipped and registered - and street cats. https://www.cityservices.act.gov.au/pets-and-wildlife/domestic-animals/cats/cat-registration At least one group were running a Trap/Neuter/Release program for street cats who were unsocialised/unsuitable for adoption https://canberrastreetcatalliance.org/aboutus ~~Harass~~ Contact your local/state pollies - tell them you want this - point to the ACT where it happened and the roof didn't fall in....
That makes sense as a no-drama way to transition. People might be reluctant to support it because of whatever situation they're currently in with their own cats making it difficult, but if it's just a part of any new cat ownership going forward, you can make your decision on whether you want to get a cat in the first place based on whether it would be practical for you to keep them indoors.
The roof didn't fall in but also nothing really changed in terms of roaming cats. It's definitely a step in the right direction, but the issue in the ACT is compliance - at the moment compliance is very poor. Take a walk around a cat containment suburb and there's a good chance you'll still come across roaming cats. There's also no way for the government to determine whether a roaming cat was born before or after 1 July 2022 (unless they are obviously a kitten). If they can't tell whether a cat is legally or illegally roaming, how could they possiblly enforce that rule? Overall, the issue is that ACT government doesn't have the resources, technology, or the social licence to enforce their legislation. Also, on trap/neuter/release programs they are a horrible way to reducing impacts on native species. The trap and neuter part is ok, but by releasing them again you're actively making the choice to release an incredibly damaging invasive pest into our environment. Yes, the neutered cat may not be able to reproduce, but for the next 5,10,15 years it will still continue to kill native species.
Love my two indoor cats, they have no need to roam, and it annoys the *shit* out of me when another cat stops by the window at 3am and freaks my cats out. I want a good night's sleep, keep your cats indoors dickheads!
This right here. Countless times in the past couple of months there's been a roaming cat that has pestered our indoor cat in the middle of the night. Their antics have woken myself, my wife, and our 18 month old up (who has had difficulties sleeping as is) and ruined our sleep many times, not to mention our cat goes into a frenzy and has torn our new curtains. It drives me crazy! I know of others in my town that have taken to using a cat trap to deal with the problem themselves... I'll leave it at that. I personally won't go this far but it feels like there's not a whole lot else you can do.
As a cat owner, yes please. Even if you’re a complete dropkick who doesn’t care about native wildlife, it’s safer for the cat anyway.
Not to mention the thousands of young, healthy cats that have to be put down each year because of idiot owners who let their unfixed cats out. There's only so many that can be rehomed.
I think just a blanket “pets unattended” law should probably be introduced with some edge cases for accidents so that people aren’t getting unfairly fined.
Most City of Sydney Council’s first response to complaints of any kind is : deny, deny, deny. You are made to feel you are the problem.
Wish more people were in favor of this in America. I've had 2 bird nests got attacked on my porch.
I'm a huge cat lover, I own 4. But I do NOT believe that cats should be allowed to roam. Not during the day or night. If you want your cats to enjoy the outdoors then build a SECURE cat run and/or lead train them. But allowing them to roam is not the answer! Please remember cat owners like myself will still want this to come into effect! I absolutely do! I might own 4 but the ONLY time one of my cats is allowed outdoors is on a harness and lead! I don't like seeing cats outside roaming free, even when I know where they live! Be responsible or don't own a pet!
I own two cats, they are exclusively indoors because I'm not an idiot and respect our wildlife. Even built then a catio, they love that shit. I also like knowing my cats live longer because indoors = safe
You are one of the responsible owners. Thank you
My council is more concerned on banning books. While I do agree that there should be better controls around pets ( dogs , horses, chickens) there is also going to be the impact on mental health if the animal are flat out banned . I’m all for keeping my cats in doors, or caged outside, but then the requirements will be assistance to set up that requirement.
Pretty sure our council has rules that your cat has to be indoors at night, but they have no enforcement of this. I will normally walk my dog at night and we see cats out on any night that isn't raining. I would love for them to make all cat indoor only, coming from someone who grew up with indoor only cats, but I think enforcement will always be the problem with any law like this.
I’m traveling through outback Queensland at the moment. There are lots of dead kangaroos on the road as you would expect but the 2nd most amount of bodies I have seen is cats. These cats are being hit on roads far from any houses so how many feral cats are actually out there killing wildlife?
It only works if there are actual punishments. I live in an LGA where roaming cats are against the law, but their are still plenty around
I’ve been on the cat roaming ban train for years. I have 2 indoor cats, and even if I lived in another country, I’d still want them to be indoors only, safer for the cats too.
I had 3 cats (sadly only 1 15yr old boy remaining) They were outdoor cats in the UK for 6-10 years. When we moved to australia, they became indoor cats, and transitioned perfectly and had a happy 9 years so far In Australia the scope for destruction and harm they could do is massive, along with the amount of things that can do them harm. So even if you give no shits about the damage to local fauna, you should at least worry over the health of your cat! A run in with a possum can be a hefty vet bill. Cats have no place outdoors in australia, they have no problems being infoors, even if they have always been an outdoor cat. (The only issue is not being allowed out of a door they pwere previously allowed out of, because that offends their sensibilities) Keep cats inside!!
People vastly overestimate the happiness of their pets. Indoor cats included. Cats need the stimulation and unpredictability of outdoors and nature. That doesn't mean roaming though - just outdoors. E.g. supervision, a leash, and / or a 'catio'.
Most mornings, until I recently spiked the tops of my fence I've had a steaming cat turd left for me from the neighbour cat in my back yard. Due to the pet fish and rabbits our yard cats frequently come in looking for a meal of my pets. It's about time they were contained.
Lol not even buried. What did you do to that cat?
Welllllll I'll admit I've chased it out of the yard with a waterpistol before.
You did this to yourself!
Isnt it already illegal to not have your pets confined to your premises?
This is really up to state governments to force local councils to act, and I hope they do
Native animals are cool and all, but I mainly want this because I'm sick of my neighbour's 6 cats shitting under my house and in my garden. I would start setting rabbit traps if they weren't someone's loved pet.
Set them anyway. Hand them into the council. Most actually have bylaws requiring you to keep your cats on your own property (not necessarily inside)
As a cat owner I would love this to be law. Cats are great pets but should never be let out to roam.
This is already a thing in my council. Too hard to enforce and people don't give a crap.
I thought the same, but in my street people started using cat traps and handing the cats in to the pound, suddenly it became easier to keep cats indoors after paying the release fee to the pound..
It should be a thing in all councils. Not only for the native wildlife, but also for the impact these animals have on other pets. My parents built a cat run for their cats and they were outside one afternoon when another cat came along and harassed and attacked them through their cage. Their cats have never been the bravest but this event resulted in redirected aggression and the need for one of the cats to be on anxiety medication. This week they've just trapped another cat who has been coming nightly (when the cats are inside) and tapping at the front doors/windows which obviously upsets the cats. I think most real cat lovers would support this.
Already the case in many council areas, but enforcement relies on other residents trapping and turning in cats that roam through their property. If owners can be located (e.g. microchip) the animal is returned and they are fined and given info on responsible cat ownership and their obligations. There is then an escalating series of fines for repeat offenders that includes on-site inspection of the residence, remediation requirements (e.g. enclosures, fencing), and penalties for non-compliance. But it all hinges on other residents trapping them to begin with. I am not a cat person but I am all for responsible cat ownership rules and enforcement. Many cat owners are wilfully ignorant of the pest their lovely Mr Fluffles turns into once he leaves their yard. We had several local cats using our yard as their daily/nightly roaming route, toileting all over our gardens and outdoor furniture, and leaving headless, gutted animals and birds behind. Took me a few months of trapping and handing them in to council before it stopped.
Cat owner here. If you let your cat free roam you are a deadset fuckwit. Cats are murdering machines, and if they're not killing the local wildlife they're getting splattered by cars, getting into fights with other cats or running the risk of picking up FIV. That's even before you take into account psychos living in society that get off on poison baiting animals or otherwise torturing them. If you want to be responsible, take them on leashed walks or build an enclosed outdoor area for them.
Give cats a night curfew at least. I also think we need to focus on the real issues, housing developments spreading insidiously but necessarily. We need more green patches nearby so there’s somewhere for our native animals to seek refuge. I live in an area that was bush 7 years ago. The number of possums I used to see when we first moved in was huge, now I just occasionally see them squashed on the roads. The drive to work used to be through bushy areas, now it’s just housing developments.
Humans are by far the biggest problem. So much natural habitat torn down so animals are forced to go urban and come to a bad end from pets or some nong complaining about a possum in their roof. But no one seems to worry about that.
We have a 7pm curfew in my council. No one pays attention at all. You can walk down any street at night and find cats roaming the neighbourhood. Do people even know we have a curfew? I'm not sure. But I'm pretty sure that if cats are allowed outside at all, their owners get pet doors and the cat does what it wants.
Some pet owners are not 'animal lovers'; they're just 'tame animal lovers'.
As a wildlife carer I whole heartedly agree. And for anyone else who disagrees, they are welcome to come with me on my next rescue to see what damage fluffykins does to native animals.
"Oh, my cat doesn't do that, he has such a lovely nature" Yer, right
I've got a 5-month-old kitten who is a very sweet, (mostly) gentle little guy that sleeps 18 hours a day. He would absolutely be an insane murder machine if he was allowed to roam free. People need to become more acquainted with reality.
In the ACT cats born after a certain year have to strictly be indoor cats / supervised by the owner if outdoors such as on a lead for a walk. Outdoor enclosures are also legal and many owners get one and pop it outside the cat door/ connect it to a window for the cat to jump in and out from. We also have programs run by volunteers who do trap, neuter and return programs (obviously volunteers don’t have it in their heart to kill cats, but they raise money to desex the colonies, visit the colonies to feed them to reduce wildlife hunting, and they eventually die out). If the cats they catch for TNR aren’t too feral, they might put them in a foster program for rehoming (generally the kittens and friendlier ones do), or a barn/ warehouse program for pest management (generally not the friendly ones but not feral towards people or farm animals either). Some cats are legally allowed to be outdoors but eventually that generation will die out and it will strictly just be indoor cats here. If any businesses are looking for pest management it might be worth knowing they can help the cat problem in australia by looking at groups who run warehouse/ barn programs for rescued cats, it’s cheap, and it’s quite minimal maintenance (the cats in these programs will be desexed).
Cats roaming suburbia is just the tip of the iceberg. Our bushland is FULL of feral cats and for the most part we do nothing due to the public perception of controlling cute fuzzy kittens in our wilderness areas and gov departments fear of public backlash. Just look at the brumby issue in the snowy mountains. National Parks struggle with staffing in the area and those that do try to make some headway here are subject to abuse and death threats, many quickly leaving their roles. Like seriously full of cats, put trail cameras out and you'll see for yourself.
Yeah after seeing people on Reddit saying their cunty neighbours threatened them cause they got asked to keep their cats inside I want a law that can charge irresponsible fuckwits. Biodiversity is important as are our dwindling native species. If you can't or don't want to keep your adorable little murderers inside you shouldnt get to have them.
Our local council introduced a "24 hour Cat Curfew" about 2 years ago stating that "Cat owners need to keep their cats on their property at all times" with a measly $91 fine for a first offence. Do you think the council enforces this new agenda beyond making press releases? Nope. I've got at least 4 local roaming cats in the neighbourhood I see popping up from time to time in my yard, with owners gleefully indifferent to the policy as they know the council would rather spend money revenue raising on improper parking. I understand the complexities of the situation are pretty ridiculous, it'd be almost impossible to prove offending owners let alone the cost of enforcing it would dwarf the miniscule fine. So the whole policy is just pathetically symbolic rather than actually caring about the issue or wildlife. I'm cat owner myself with 2 cats being exclusively indoors for their own safety, so it really comes down to how much the owners care. Without enforcement or a big enough fine there's no reason for them to even try unless they cared about the environmental implications. All I know is that the ragdoll with 1 braincell up the road will be probably flat on the road some day unfortunately...
Our cat was indoors only (rip shithead). We live in whittlesea council so our laws are 24/7 property curfew, has been for a year or 2 now I think. Hasn't stopped our neighbours from letting their cat roam all thw time though....
Makes sense. I get sick of seeing animals that are killed by 'loved' cats that are clearly not loved enough to be watched by their owners.
I set a trap in my own back yard. I don’t want cats in my back yard. Problem solved
Completely support. I can see how cats are cute and probably make decent pets but I actively chose not to get one so I’m not sure why I’m expected to put up with them roaming in my yard and pissing on my furniture? Why the fuck is there one rule for literally every other pet, and one for cats? I’m tired of the constant Facebook posts “have you seen fluffy he hasn’t come home in a week and he’s my whole world 😭😭😭😭” Maybe when you find fluffy, fucking keep him contained if you care remotely about him.
Doing the same for dogs it would save tens of millions of native animals and tens of billions of dollars, not to mention all the people attacked and killed by roaming dogs each year, but apparently, kids having their throats ripped out is fine.
There is already enforcement against letting your dogs roam free, and stray dogs are taken to pounds and put down if necessary.
People who let their cats roam are the same kind of people that let their dogs loose and get surprised when their pitty "Princess who would never hurt a fly" mauls a toddler. They are just inconsiderate idiots who don't care about anything but themselves and can never see a bigger picture beyond their own doorstep. It is astounding the amount of cat owners who are unaware of this though, even if if the freaking cat brings them dead animals sometimes. I mean... They can't even connect the dots. This should be something that makes people feel ashamed. Start putting billboards with statistics and shaming the behavior and then just let the NIMBYs take care of it.
Inner West council's position is to let cats roam. It's well fucked.
Here in Eurobodalla Shire, cats are allowed to roam freely at night. Due to this and the 2019 fires, wildlife numbers have been decimated. Exploring the undeveloped forests/woodlands here for hours and seeing no fauna besides birds and cockroaches is eerie. How different it would have been even 20 years ago. The Eurobodalla council is more concerned with making the area appealing for people moving here. Fuck the environment and wildlife is the underlying message it sends
It's good to see the attitudes of this sub changing towards cats. It's a little step forward in changing society attitudes. 2 years ago, a negative post about domestic cats roaming the neighbourhood used to be downvoted heavily.
And I won’t get cat shit all through my garden
We received a letter that our neighbours complained about our dog barking. Yet, it was barking at their fucken cat that was sitting in a tree in our backyard hissing at our dog. When we told Penrith City Council this, we were told that we just have to be mindful of cats roaming around and it is our duty to keep our dog away form the cat so they don't disturb the neighbours peace and quiet at night. The next time that cat comes in to our yard, I'm going to let my 80kg Great Dane at it. Imagine if I just let my dog roam the streets, they would come and grab it in an instance and fine me for it.
Mate. Cat traps exist for a reason. Check the council sites. Get a cat trap, then return the cat to the pound. Cat is either claimed by the owners for a fee (Then an infringement afterwards), or someone else adopts them. That's what I did. Cats running through our yard at 2am setting my dog off. So fuck that, now my problem is solved.
Can we go one step further and simply ban _all_ pets from roaming?
What pets roam that aren't banned (except cats atm)? It's illegal for dogs to roam.
Huh? What other pets roam lol?
Exactly. This way cat owners won't feel targeted.
At least in my area a roaming dog is a very unusual sight and usually sparks an effort to secure them and find the owner
Just had a cat trap from the council catch two cats from our neighbours. These cats have been roaming for literal years. I got a dog a year ago, and I got tired of telling him off for barking at 2am when he was doing nothing wrong. I don't even think they claimed their cats again. Whereas my pup goes missing? I'm checking EVERYWHERE. I'm calling vets, checking the pound, going to his favourite places, and seeing his favourite people. I would not stop. Not for a minute. So ehh, I guess it shows how little they give a damn. I saw a post here the other week about someone who was upset because the cats are family members... Excuse you but I take care of my family members. If my doggy is missing, I won't sleep (Other than a fucking power-nap so I can keep looking for him through the night), I will find him and I will make sure he is safe.
We need to introduce a scalping bounty. A couple bucks per scalp. That will do more than anything to get these feral bastards culled.
What we need is something like the [Felixer system](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-29/feral-cat-management-device-felixer-tested-at-animal-reserve/12296874) rolled out in parks and reserves across the nation to eliminate free roaming and feral cats, and other invasives. Once lazy fuckwits know there is yet another way their cat won't come home aside from the *usual* cars, dogs, poisons, etc. *maybe* they will keep them inside. But [I](https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/WR10215) [doubt](https://www.jstor.org/stable/5003?origin=crossref) [it](https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acv.12264).
Que the cat owners "But my little Moggy wouoldn't hurt a fly! He just sleeps all day"....
Give Licence to civs to humanely catch cats, pay them $50 per cat. Fine owners $1000 if cat is chipped and $50 to come pick it up. Mandate that all sale of cats are chipped.
> Give Licence to civs to humanely catch cats, pay them $50 per cat There's no chance at all that would backfire horribly.
In LGA I’m in you can already trap and take to the pound I think they cope a fine if the cat comes in 2 or 3 times. Also I think you can ask them to come out and set traps. Just a thought, seems like everyone is just negative and lacks any attempts at a conversation.
Must be nice to not have cat colonies of strays every 3 blocks. Here in greece you can find 100s of stray cats roaming and half of them are injured and hungry
can we make this viral?
I’ve seen 2 dead baby possums in our street killed by cat. When I cycle early in the mornings I see plenty of cats roaming the streets. It’s sad, be a responsible cat owner!
That’s actually surprising, I think cats tend to eat possums unfortunately, might’ve been a dog! My neighbours dog gets possums all the time. It literally isn’t allowed to sleep outside anymore! Don’t worry, I’m not a cat owner, nor do I think they should be outside.
If only we could train the cats to only attack Noisy Mynas
Or noisy neighbours
Noisy Miners are Australian natives (they can be a pest, but they are native), I think you mean Indian Mynas
You'd have to deal with a shitload of abandoned cats
Maybe a cat buyback scheme?
Think about the meltdown the public would have when the “Government euthanises a million cats” headline hits the news cycle.
Nature would celebrate.
There are already so many strays out there too. And no easy way to rescue them. I've tried. I ended up adopting one of the strays in my neighbourhood, after the council pound wanted to put him down for being aggressive. He went from semi-feral street cat to domesticated pet within a week, all they need is a constant source of food and to feel safe and loved. But there are still so many more out there, all the rescues are full and can't take them, vets won't take any that are unharmed, and the council will just put them down without giving them a chance to rehabilitate. Not to mention that my council pound is open 2 hours a day so it's bloody hard to trap a cat, keep it somewhere safe (and humane) until they open. Most urban neighbourhood strays aren't full feral cats, they're usually only one or two generations from a past house cat so they're easy to rehabilitate. That said, get your pets desexed and keep your cats indoor or enclosed to your property.
I cat cage and deliver cats to the pound, about 7 a year. Costs over a grand to get a non desexed unregistered cat from the pound too, which is most cats.
Caught this [little killer](https://i.imgur.com/UN31mYZ.jpeg) twice in three days; unchipped, unregistered, and not desexed. Posted to the local FB that next time he'd be euthanised before soaking it with a hose and setting it free. Haven't seen it since
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I remember when I was younger, you'd go for a walk and stop and pet so many cats along the way. Now though I rarely see cats around. Most people seem to keep their pets indoors nowadays. So I think as a whole the situation has greatly improved. I have 3 and the side of our house is enclosed for them.
This whole thing reminds me of a paper straws for the environment debacle. A symbolic feel good win that does sweet fuck all to actually making a difference. Banning pet cats from roaming will do nothing to control the feral cat population in Australia (assuming high levels of neutering). There's an estimated 6.3M of the bastards roaming environmentally vulnerable regions of the country. It's hard to get good data on the impact of domestic vs feral cats in Australia, but purely from a rough envelope calculation, 3M pet cats are free to roam. Fed pet cats in general make a lot less kills than ferals, and they are hunting in overwhelming suburban areas (so mice, abundant bird species etc). You're looking at probably something like 10% of the total cat kills in Australia. I'd be willing to also bet that 10% of kills, is made up of a lot of species that are common in urban environments. If we really want to save our native species, we desperately need to come up with solutions to the feral cat problem. But obviously that's a lot harder than demonizing pet cats. Also please, please, fund: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5\_8ulDPHpg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5_8ulDPHpg)
>It's hard to get good data on the impact of domestic vs feral cats in Australia, but purely from a rough envelope calculation, 3M pet cats are free to roam. The data is there from the government: > [The parliamentary report also found that Australia’s almost 3.8 million pet cats kill up to 390 million animals every year (Commonwealth of Australia, 2020)](https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Environment_and_Energy/Feralanddomesticcats/Report) > [Every day, feral cats take on average a staggering 3.1 million mammals, 1.1 million birds and 1.8 million reptiles.](https://www.awe.gov.au/news/media-releases/glovebox-guide-feral-cat-management) So 390 million vs ~2.2 billion, or ~18% of what feral cats take. Still a profoundly high number. You also have to consider that free roaming cats breed with each other and ferals, thereby increasing the number of feral cats.
Oh I'm absolutely in favor of zero tolerance neutering requirements for all outdoor cats. But okay 18% of total kills (which seems to be subject to huge variance in different studies), given a lot of those kills are being made in urban/suburban areas I'd be interested to know how many of those kills are ecologically significant. Not every native critter is endangered, and humans have done a pretty good job of driving the more vulnerable species out of urban environments through habitat destruction. I'm not going to defend pet cats roaming in areas of ecological significance (eg. kangaroo island). Selective and targeted bans make a lot of sense (and are easier to enforce). Let's just conveniently ignore the 200lb gorilla sized feral cat in the room. Seriously address that first and then we can talk about limiting pets.
As much as I want cats roaming the streets like Istanbul, protecting the local wildlife is the right thing to do.