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?

It would be great. No more cat shit in my garden. I own two cats, but they're kept indoors. They don't leave their feces on anyone's property.

LOL what? Have you ever been to Australia? We've just got respect and caring for the native animals we are losing rapidly. I don't legally have to keep my cats indoors (we have a curfew but I've never seen it enforced) but I keep my guys indoors for the sake of the wildlife and also for their own safety. Snakes are partial to cats and to possums.

It doesn't matter, you can't take food into Australia (or New Zealand). And you can't fix the past, but you can stop problems in the future.

My cats are indoor cats and well used to this

If your really really concerned about birds stop driving your car stop cutting down trees stop building on greenbelt land stop allowing councils ban feeding birds

Plant trees encourage bugs actually protect the birds from humans

If you ban cats from going outside you must also get used to an increase in rat and mice population but im sure no-one will mind that as they are super cute

Yes but that doesn’t change that rats were imported and still exist, so cats also imported are useful as predators.

A study published in April estimated that UK cats kill 160 to 270 million animals annually, a quarter of them birds.

Appreciate this post. Would prefer this option

We wouldn’t get in trouble in my area if he was roaming as there are no rules exactly where I am. Next door neighbours both sides have large dogs which would kill him if he ventured in their yards, so lead is also for his safety and to keep him in the garden.

I don’t think people are getting less cats, but being more responsible about it. When I was a kid 35+ years ago we always had a cat or cats. I remember one of our female cats having about three litters of kittens which my grandad would come and drown once they were born (my single mother could not afford vet neutering fees) as you could never give all the kittens away, there were so many offered for free everywhere. Many of our cats died young as we lived near a main road.

But now 20 years later all cat owners I know have neutered cats, and the idea of just casually drowning a newborn animal is madness. Community groups offer subsided costs of neutered and microchipping your cat, and it’s much harder to get/buy a cat unless it’s from a registered breeder or rescue organisation. It’s not uncommon to see the outdoor catios like ours around, we’ve seen others in our subdivision too, but we have a lot of space for them, our standard block of land is 955m2. We take out cat out on our boat with our dog too so he does get to venture out further now and then.

Ahh and what about innocent children playing in the sandpit and digging up cat shit?
Pet owners should always be responsible for their pets mess- cats should not be exempt!

Cats are really not useful for controlling rats and mice in Australia. The native wildlife here didn't evolve with them, so are easier game - hence, the cats prefer the natives over the rodents.

I’m sure the poster who the other day started at thread about how a neighbours cat came in her house and pissed on her sofa, leaving a stench that she can’t get rid of would be delighted at such an idea.

@Littlefaeries YES, spot on!

Same here. Cats have been domesticated for thousands of years. They can lead perfectly happy indoor lives.

Sorry but you're talking bollocks, yes there are SOME cats who like being indoors but most cats love being outdoors, it would be cruel to keep them cooped up.

That is really really unusual.

Not if they're used to roaming

The article mentions how much feral cats kill, assuming there's a direct link to domestic cats, which is daft as pets get fed so won't be hunting for food (not saying they don't hunt). Sounds like they may have a feral cat problem with they aren't dealing with.

This ^ Plus obviously human activity is responsible for the vast majority of wildlife decline so blaming other animals seems pretty hypocritical.

The RSPB would disagree with you.

This.

It's cruel to keep a cat indoors. if you have a large garden you could keep them confined to, then perhaps you could keep them within boundaries, but it is still unfair on a creature which roams many miles give the opportunity.

Yes - they kill birds and small mammals - but we as a species negatively impact just about every creature on God's earth.

My cat can't hunt shit. Sweetest cat in the world, but genuinely quite slow in the brain department.

We had one like that. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer - not even the sharpest spoon if the truth be told. He was definitely intellectually challenged - the vet said he was the feline equivalent of Downs (I apologise if anyone finds this offensive - it isn't intended to be) - but very, very affectionate and an absolute joy.

Not sure about this. Cats prefer native wildlife is that what you’re saying? Why would that be the case, they were both imported at around same time weren’t they

I hope so! I'm so fed up with other people not being able to control their pets and letting them poo all over my garden.

We live in a little hamlet (six houses) and the birdsong was amazing. Genuinely incredible. A woman moved in with two cats and it's all gone. It's so sad. She's one of those people who thinks her cats don't catch anything. I've literally seen her cats carrying birds through my garden. People always bloody insist that their cat doesn't catch birds and is too sweet or two thick or too slow. Absolute BOLLOCKS. If you can't see your cat and it is outside, you have absolutely no idea what it is doing.

It would be absolute heaven for me, my garden is overrun with the neighbourhood cats as our house seems to be the only house cat free. Despite having two large dogs 😵‍💫

Yes many (not all) cats kill wildlife, but the same can be applied to dogs. Should all dogs be kept on a lead to avoid harm to wildlife?

Absolutely. People not picking up their dog's shit is repugnant, but a completely separate issue.

It's cruel to keep a cat locked up indoors if they don't want to stay inside.

The options aren't limited to keep your cat inside at all times or let them roam free.

A good solution would be an outdoor cat run/catio or something so that your cat could access the outdoors when they wanted to without being able to leave your property and without being able to catch birds.