PICTURE: Blue tongued lizards are slow movers and cats find them easy prey to either kill or seriously injure. Credit: Invasive Species Council supplied

 Roaming pet cats
Cats are both a valued companion animal and one of the world’s most successful predators.

THERE ARE 4.9 MILLION PET CATS in Australia and rising. Pet cats that are allowed to freely roam outside kill an estimated 527 million animals annually, the majority native. This equates to an average of 186 animals killed each year per free-roaming, hunting pet cat.

Cats have strong natural hunting instincts; when given the opportunity, pet cats will hunt, regardless of whether they’ve been fed or not. The majority (up to 85%) of prey are not brought home.

PICTURE: Candice Bartlett is a Conservation Officer (Cats) working with the Invasive Species Council. Credit: Supplied

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We are sending a message
The Invasive Species Council is advocating that local councils get behind the push for a review of the NSW Companion Animal Act.

Background
 
LEGISLATIVE REFORMS ARE REQUIRED to ensure responsible ownership of cats that would keep them safe, while preventing predation on wildlife.
 
Pet cats are both a valued companion animal and one of the world’s most successful predators.  Pet cats allowed to freely roam outside kill an estimated 327 million native Australian animals and an additional 205 non-native animals annually.
 
Despite these impacts on our native wildlife, the NSW Companion Animals Act 1998 does not currently include requirements for cats to be secured at home and prevented from roaming; this is often termed a cat curfew or cat containment. NSW and WA are the only States in Australia that do not enable councils to consider cat containment through State legislation. For example, the respective companion animal management legislation in Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, and South Australia supports local governments to create locally specific laws for pet containment.
 
Councils should have the flexibility to introduce containment policies in consultation with the local community that meet the specific needs of their area and community, including phase-in periods, selection of which areas within their jurisdiction the policy applies and monitoring frameworks including consideration of resource allocation.
 
I call on Council to support my call for the NSW Government to make amendments to the Companion Animals Act 1998 that would equip local governments with the necessary powers to implement cat containment at a local level.

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Cats to be contained 24/7
DANIEL MILES (ABC Reporter for South West Victoria, Wednesday 19 April, 2023).  posted a story on the ABC News website under the title Surf Coast Shire’s new 24-hour cat curfew could extend pets’ lives, RSPCA says. It lists three key points:

• The Surf Coast Shire is introducing a 24-hour cat curfew in September
• The RSPCA says there’s evidence keeping cats inside can extend their life span
• The move follows similar decisions by councils in Melbourne and regional Victoria

Cr Gazzard said cats harming wildlife was one of the biggest concerns of respondents to a survey on cat laws.  More at this link: 24/7 cat curfew.

More pictures and links in MMM … Issue 38, June – July 2023