Anti-cat propaganda has resulted in a steady decrease of owned cats in Australia dropping from 3.2 million in 1989 to 2.4 million in 2002. “Cat ownership is declining in Australia in contrast to the increased popularity of pet cats in Europe and the United States.” (18) . “One significant reason may be a widely held view in Australia that pet cats are bad for wildlife either by roaming and hunting in remnant bushland or by excluding wildlife from domestic gardens.” (19)

In 2006, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Queensland reported: “Horrific cases like the recent spate of cat killings and torture across Australia show clearly the need for the RSPCA to continue its campaign to make more people aware of just how serious animal cruelty is and the alarming links between violent offenders and animal torture.” (20)

Meanwhile, dog ownership is on the rise- as well as a dramatic increase of dog bites, with children often the victims. Australia now has the highest rate of dog attacks in its history.

A growing number of scientists and conservationists have suggested recently that pet cats be replaced with “creatures which evolved and belong here” like wombats, possums and hopping-mice. “ But like all species kept in captivity, native pets can go wild. This can lead to them interbreeding and having genetic impacts on local populations, or colonising places in Australia far outside their natural range.” (21)

Unintended Consequences

“In addition to the stunning lack of evidence that naturalized animals are a serious problem for the Australian environment, we also have an even more complete absence of any research into the ecological role assumed by introduced species when they become naturalized. There have been no studies of the potentially negative consequences for an ecosystem of removing them -especially from environments which have been intentionally modified to be as pseudo-European as possible.” (22)

When a large number of cats interfered with a Queensland professor’s scientific experiment in 1992, the Minister of the Environment called in an army of sharpshooters. Hundreds of felines were shot, only to be replaced by cats that poured into the vacated area to take advantage of the resources and breed to capacity. This phenomenon is known as the “vacuum effect” and has been documented worldwide.

In the nineties, Cats Assistance to Sterilize (C.A.T.S.) was experimenting with Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) as a humane alternative to feral cat eradication with encouraging results. Countries such as England and the United States have been successful implementing this method for decades.

There is no evidence that any consideration has been given by government wildlife officials in Australia to consider TNR in order to control cat populations. Instead, the Australian government has been waging their own war on outdoor felines and their first “draft plan” developed in the late nineties outlined a variety of ways to kill them:

“The numbers can be reduced by trapping, shooting or poisoning. They can be caught in cage traps. A fish-based pet food is recommended for baiting traps. Trapped feral cats are difficult to handle and should be shot while still in the trap. Feral cats may be located and shot at night using a spot light and a high powered rifle (or a shotgun at short range). Poisoning campaigns for rabbits, foxes, dingoes or feral pigs sometimes kill feral cats. They are highly susceptible to 1080 (a toxin banned in the U.S.) and may be killed by eating baits or by scavenging on the carcasses of poisoned target animals.” (23)