Domestic Cats, Kill Them All!

[Billy_Dean]

I think it's about time the domestic cat was eradicated, they serve no useful purpose, they kill indisciminately, and spread disease. They were useful many years ago when our homes were infested with rats and mice, but now they are just a pest. We should have a National Kill a Cat Day, and put a bounty on them, if we all did our bit, we could completely wipe them out.


Have you noticed that there are no longer any small birds or lizards in your garden? Do you miss the sounds of the bush? Do you or your neighbours own a cat? Australia's wildlife is both unique and special. The many kinds of marsupials, birds, reptiles and frog living in this country evolved in an environment that did not include cats. Cats are introduced predators with which our native wildlife cannot live. While native predators do exist, these have evolved in a way that preserves a natural balance between animals, plants and the land. The relatively recent addition of cats to our environment has upset this natural balance because cats are very efficient destroyers of wildlife.
There is about one cat for every household and one for every five people. In built up areas there can be over 40 cats in each suburban block. There are too about as many stray and feral cats as there are owned cats. There are too many cats in Australia and the numbers are increasing.
All cats kill wildlife, even well fed cats. On average each pet cat kills 25 creatures a year; this adds up to 100 million creatures every year. Feral cats eat the equivalent of 7 bush rats each week, over 400 million creatures a year. Most wildlife killed by roaming pet cats is often caught just outside the back door. All cats, including your pet cat, hunt by instinct. Often a captured bird or possum will appear undamaged but almost certainly, it will die within 36 hours from shock or infection. Cats' mouths are hotbeds of bacteria. One bite to a native animal leads to rapid spread of infection against which it has little resistance. Cats carry toxoplasmosis, a protozoan disease which can devastate wildlife populations.
Cats will kill some rats and mice. However, as cats need a continuing supply of food, it is not in their interest to kill all the rats and mice.
Having a cat is no deterrent to snakes and cats can be killed by them.
Cats and wildlife cannot live together. Cats reduce wildlife populations by predation, disease and competition. Even the presence of cats is enough to drive wildlife away. When combined with habitat loss and failing natural processes, Australia's wildlife is struggling to survive. Keep cats and wildlife apart.
Well cared for cats can be wonderfdul companion animals, but:
* roaming cats can annoy neighbours.
* noisy cat fights or mating cats are disruptive to the nighttime neighbourhood.
* uncontrolled stray and feral cats are a serious community problem.
* wildlife cannot survive increasing predation, competition and disease from cats.

Wires.

[TheDave]

not read it all, but let me be the first to say im in

[Spider_dude]

stfu the both of you.

[namzuf9]

They make me sneeze and they crap in my garden. Bloody vermin, they're like pigeons with legs!

[Snee]

He's talking about domestic cats in Australia, though I'm not for animal cruelty and do very much like cats, they do upset the natural ecology. Cats are pets, not the part of the natural environment there or come to think of it here. I'd very much prefer it if people took care that their cats only moved in appropriate areas.

[AussieSheila]

Feral cats need to be destroyed, domestic cats need to be controlled. In a lot of places in Australia you are not allowed to have cats e.g around Sherbrooke Forest in Victoria. I'm sure there are lots of others. The other thing that has been introduced in Victoria, not sure about the other states, is a cat curfew. It's mostly at night that cats cause the damage with wildlife. I was not going to have a cat because where I live there are lots of green tree frogs, lizards, bandicoots... all sorts of stuff, which I didn't want to put at risk.

Our cat chose us, he was dumped as a tiny kitten and found his way to our house. So now we have a cat. I keep him in at night and our wildlife is all still there. My cat killed a red belly black snake right behind me when I was on the computer one day, I didn't know until I turned around and found the dead snake. He has earned his place. He also kills 1 - 2 rats per week. We never used to have a problem with rats and mice until the python that lived in our shed starting eating our ducklings and we had the snake man come and take him away. But HG does an excellent job of keeping them down in the shed and we never see them in the house.

Nup, HG stays.

[leonidas]

Yeah. I agree with spider dude, and S.T.F.U. is a too polite expression in this case.

The cats didn't came to australia by their own did they? So it's time to assume your responsibilities and spend some money to castrate all the cats, and not to kill them u bloody murderer.

[TheDave]

they make noise and trip you up when you go in the kitchen too

[Kitty]

I would think that if you got rid of all the cats then the mice and rat problem would probably make a comeback!
It's not the cats that need to be destroyed it's the stupid people that own them and do not take care of them properly that is causing all the comotion down under.

If every person who owned a cat had them nutered or spayed then the number of feral cats would decline drasticly! But people don't do this they let fluffy run around town making all the babies they care to make, then them babies make babies and on and on and on...

Alos keeping your cat indoors all the time would be another effective way to control the problem between wildlife and the cat.. It's also not safe for kitty to be sneaking around outside at night or during the day...

[Billy_Dean]

Mmmm! Castration sounds good, thanx Leonidas, I'll give it a go.