Cats banned from going outside in Australia, could it happen here?

[JamBiscuitBun]

I'm interested to hear thoughts on this. Article here I can't ever see it working in the UK. I also remember Australian farmers having apocalyptic mice problems on some of their farms, so I'm not sure how this fits in with that. Though there are many people who'd love to never have the neighbour's cat pooing in their garden again. What d'you think?

Mine are indoor only. They have a catio with free access to that night and day. We've tried leash training but neither of them see it as fun.

One cat still catches the Asian geckos which are inside houses here in Brisbane but I don't worry too much about that as they are recent invasive species.

Perfectly happy cats and in the Australian situation it should be mandatory. We have a cat curfew but that means fuck all.

Australia has many small unique species which cats kill. I would be in favour of all cats being kept inside in the UK as well with large outside fenced in areas.

they don’t just kill birds, also frogs and other species

I don’t know anything about the wisdom or otherwise of this idea, but I do know that it has zero chance of happening here for the fundamental reason that, after the last few years, no one has any faith in or respect for the government.

I think we would all just tell them to fuck off and carry on doing what we want. Same if there’s ever another pandemic, I cannot see any reasonable person willing to go through lockdowns again given what we now know.

The Aussies went totally mental during covid and apparently cats are their new target. Freedom for cats, I say!

I live in Australia in NSW. Koalas have been declared an endangered species here. The North coast. coastal-emus are in decline and practically been wiped out.

its not the the fekkin cats that are the main problem here

Exactly. They are very destructive. It's so selfish to allow them to roam. And totally unnecessary.

I don’t have a cat and no intention to get one, but it’s seems hmm in that ok cats were imported but so were rats, which they naturally hunt.

Plus I have a strong memory from growing up of all the road kill from cars. Humans aren’t that aware when it comes to impact.

The day I open my back door and let our dogs roam around other people's property will be the day I think it's ok for cats to do so.

They are domestic pets not wild animals. I'm all for folk keeping them on their property. Not necessarily indoors they could go in their garden as long as they couldn't get out.

Same rules should apply for all domestic pets. It's your pet, your supervise it and care for it.

'People have cats because they’re lazy. Heaven forbid you actually expect them to care for their pest by cat proofing and picking up after them!'

Exactly.

Thank you very much for doing that!

Do you have a link to any of these studies? Genuinely interested - I have 3 cats, all go outdoors. They have tracking collars so I can see where they are and two of them don't leave our garden (they're nervous rescues). I've never found a dead bird or mouse in our garden and I know from growing up with cats that they don't tend to eat their entire kill, so you'd think I'd have seen some evidence of them killing in 7 years. Unless mine are defective!

The third cat occasionally brings us a baby rat or bird around this time of year, so I see evidence of him hunting. But the other two I never have.

My cats bring in at least one mouse per day, some days three or four. It’s far rarer for them to bring in a bird - it does happen occasionally but not frequently. They also occasionally bring in rats which is always stunning because they’re nearly as big as the cat.

We live on the edge of the country - we have a piece of wild land out the back. There are always going to be rodents here. As yet though in ten years the cats have stopped any incursions into the house in their tracks. I’d far rather have my cats to stop mice and rats getting in than poison which makes it’s way up the food chain.

Not every animal is made to be a pampered pet kept forever artificially in baby hood. I love my cats but they’re very much independent creatures who think for themselves and work.

It will never happen here. The only reason it's accepted in Australia is because they love following rules and being told what to do

I agree. If they have been brought up to live indoors, that is one thing. But you can't make an adult cat used to going outdoors stay in.

They did something similar in Germany for a short period because they were worried about a certain bird.

However, I am still not at all convinced that it is solely cats that are responsible for killing so many birds. I'd look closer to home for that - both to us humans, and also other birds. Cats are "fixed up", lazy and well fed - if they catch a bird, it's because it was ill or injured.

This exactly. Fed up with walking with my kids to school to see dogs dirt all over the place. It’s disgusting and no owner should be allowed to have a dog unless they clean up at them

I don't think that is true at all. I do think it is accepted there because they have unique wildlife and don't it damaged by "outsiders" (hence why they also have such strict rules about importing food).

My cats bring in at least one mouse per day, some days three or four your cats clearly don't fit my image of a well fed lazy cat

Absolutely ridiculous, won’t happen here or anywhere else in Europe where’s there’s huge amounts of strays and ferals.

my cat has probably killed a dozen birds in her sixteen years and about 100 mice and rats. The local foxes have probably killed many more. They are No
more of a predatory nuisance than a fox.

we have no shortage of birds coming into the garden. The OP that referred to concrete jungle gardens and Astro turf is correct. Far more damage to
the bird population than a cat.

No more photo opportunities for Larry then

This!

For those who complain about then killing birds...well, that's just nature.

We don't complain when they kill vermin we want them to and we can't pick and choose what a cat will kill-they are, for all the fact that they love comfort domestic, pretty much wild.

What about the birds who eat worms and insects-things that we need for our eco system? Well, birds eating those things is just nature too.

I imagine when Australian crops have a vermin problem-cats will be let out again.

it's a complicated one. I don't agree with cats being kept indoors, but equally hate the idea they are killing all the birds.

Perhaps people need to be made more aware of the issues with cats, stop purchasing new domestic cats and stop breeding them = less cats. (Obviously I am not saying people should get rid of their existing cats!! but stopping buying new ones unless rescues etc).

My cat is indoor only due to health issues and when we first had to keep him in it was HORRIFIC. He weed all over the house in distress for months it took him ages to acclimatise especially because he'd been a stray before so free to roam. He's now very content but I would never put a cat through that without a specific reason and I don't think this is a good enough one imo. What we should do is manage the cat population by responsible ownership neutering them all to reduce the overall cat population in an ethical way.

I'd vote for you on this alone 🤣

That's actually very incorrect. Many studies show that even the fattest, best fed cats will kill multiple birds and animals every night

I'd like to see these studies and whether they were funded by the "Dogs are better than Cats Trust". It seems highly improbable. I see cats watching birds and I just think "dream on mate". They get bored and go off and disappear. I don't have a cat myself but there are plenty in our neighbourhood and having an office in the garden I have a good view.

But they already have outsiders brought in on ships way back when

What we should do is manage the cat population by responsible ownership neutering them all to reduce the overall cat population in an ethical way

There is a wider issue of whether pet ownership is ethical generally and if we agree that exploiting animals is wrong (although I suspect most cats exploit their owners!) then we do need to find ways to let the population reduce.