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?

Everything craps in gardens from foxes to ferrets from birds to badgers from Hedgehogs to mice to rats to Butterflies. Do people want to ban every creature from their precious backyards?

And you can cat proof your garden fences so they can have the freedom of the garden without bothering anyone else. Of course you could have neighbours like mine who found our cat fence offensive and reported us to the council.

Would love this, but I don't have a cat, I'm allergic to them. Just stopping them shitting in my garden would be a win.

No one wants to ban wild animals, just bloody cats. You can not compare cat shit to wild animals. Anyone who has had a neighbour's cat shit in their garden every bloody day will know the difference.

Cat people are such lazy pet owners, taking no responsibility for the problems caused by their animals.

@JamBiscuitBun

LOL. Do you have ANY IDEA how many species humans have caused to go extinct?

Perhaps you shouldn't be allowed outside?

But keeping them indoors isn’t the solution. You can have pets but keep them inside. Probably the opposite if you want a healthier ecosystem

My cats are big hulking exfarm cat gingers 😁 Very loved but they also make it very clear that they're in control of their own destinies thanks. One of them was horrified during covid that we intended on being in the house 24/7 and now slopes off during the day three doors down to visit a friend and returns exactly at the kids bedtime. I added a delicate little ginger girl to the group and she has decided my oldesy son is her kitten and keeps specifically bringing him mice.

None of which discourages the half dozen blackbirds or thrushes currently digging through my lawn or the masses of small birds in my hedges because I actually do like birds so I plant for them. I resist tidiness for the sake of tidiness - autumn leaves left on the ground provide plenty to a avenge through. I plant berry bushes I know thry'll go for in winter. Grass is allowed to grow longer than is ideal, hedges are provided to give plenty of cover and on days like today when it's freezing I know exactly where in my garden to chuck some food without the cats being safe to creep up on them (and I do so WITHOUT getting a mouse or rat infestation). Birds suffer in the UK a great deal because we are far more obsessed with neatness than nature.

On a lead . Not roaming free

Well, no. Domestication is the process by which wild animals genetically adapt to live alongside humans and as such become reliant on humans for survival.

70 years ago most pet dogs roamed free in the streets (and in some countries still do!). But most here would agree today that's irresponsible and also cruel to put the dog at risk of car accidents and other potential problems. So why do we still insist it's ok for cats?!?

I adopted a former stray cat when I lived overseas. There it was part of the contract I signed at the rescue centre that I had to keep him indoors. Because it was considered antisocial and dangerous to let pets roam. He was totally fine, despite having previously been stray. Better a safe home than the alternatives in my opinion.

😂👏

So speaks someone who has never dealt with fox shit.

SOME Cat people are such lazy pet owners, taking no responsibility for the problems caused by their animals.

I've always had cats. I've always provided a clean litter tray, plenty of various foods (freshly cooked, biscuits, cat food) so they are never hungry and they have bells on their collars so the prey has pre-warning. Not all cat owners are 'lazy' or 'irresponsible'.

Set the cats free and lock up the humans

Nobody keeps foxes as pets. What's your point?

I think humans need to take a hard look at themselves, we destroy, harm and kill on a much bigger scale AND this thread is just going to attract all the cat haters, who think their shit doesn’t stink!

Magpies are killing machines. I watched so many nests raided in my garden. They hunt in packs, distract the parents and then raid the nests. I have also watched them rip apart a parent blackbird who was doing an excellent job in trying to save his babies. Poor thing. The noise is terrible.

I can confirm this - they are absolute bar-stewards and incredibly bold. I see them taking baby birds out of nests all the time, and attacking and killing adults, too.

In many ways their co-operative behaviour is fascinating to watch. A sparrow hawk caught one just outside our house recently - about another 6 or 7 began to mob it to force it to release its victim. They were relentless. The sparrow hawk wasn't stupid either, though, and managed to get to a place where there was a fence behind it so it couldn't be attacked from the rear. It then proceeded to rip at it magpie in its talon while alternately defending itself against the other birds in the tiding.

This went on for about ten minutes or so until the magpies gave up. The sparrow hawk then ate the other. I think that the one it had hold of had actually died, and the other birds realised this and called it a day.

As a cat household (I have 5) 2 are house cats one has pissed off to the local farm and come homes once or twice a week (farmer is happy as he’s clearing out the barns of mice/rat) only 2 go out and when I say go out I mean walk outside decide it’s too cold/hot/wet/muddy/dry then come back in

We’d be over run with mice/rats if the cats weren’t there to keep the population down as we live rurally and near farms

I am debating on building a catio but haven’t had the time or money to get it sorted

It's bliddy awful stuff! Absolutely rank.

I'm always having to wash it off the dogs who roll in it enthusiastically.

I still love foxes, though.

Yes but they have been allowed to and then just to stop. My dog is hardly ever on a lead.

bring it on

I am fed up of all the cat shit on my lawn.

From neighbours cats

That is also destructive to wildlife and many people in the developed world would be healthier if they ate less meat.

If you'd like to go up to the post I actually quoted you'll see the poster was insisting cat shit was far worse than wild animal shit. Which is bollocks. Fox shit is far far worse but often taken for cat shit because it's the right size. And they don't bury it.

I'd also take cat shit over rat and mouse shit to be honest if we're ranking excrement. Particularly as they also have the lovely habit of constantly widdling.

I don’t have a cat, but I do wonder how
they can be happy kept inside all the time. I have friends who have indoor cats in relatively small apartments and they always look depressed. Surely cats should
be able to go outside and enjoy their environment just like dogs? I have seen some cats on leads recently, so maybe that’s a solution?

After losing my precious boy to a dickhead speeding down our 20mph road, I couldn't disagree with you more.

Provide them an outdoor secure garden or catio. There are safe options to just being left to roam.

I love foxes very much despite their habit of scaring people by screaming like a woman being murdered. Creepy as hell but amazing. However a lot of the time - not all of the time but some of it - when people think they are complaining about cat shit it is undoubtedly fox shit they're dealing with.