Australian plans to kill 2 million feral cats - petition

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Right now, the lives of millions of Australia’s cats are on the line.

In July 2015, Minister Hunt and the Department of the Environment announced plans to kill two million cats by 2020 in a misguided attempt to save wildlife. Habitat destruction not cats has caused dozens of species in Australia to go extinct and endangers many more.  Rather than focusing on the hard work of protecting the bush, Mr. Hunt has waged war on cats.

Hunt’s plan is not only unsound, but also ineffective and inhumane. Cats cannot be eliminated through killing. Decades of failed attempts to wipe cats out have proven this.  Surviving cats reproduce quickly and fill the void, otherwise known as the vacuum effect.

The plan will only cause cats to suffer and die needlessly, with little change in the cat population and no benefit to wildlife.  And it’s not just the cats who will suffer. Poisons and barbaric traps are cruel and do not discriminate.  Other species will be caught both literally and figuratively in the crossfire. 

It is time for Australia to embrace ethical, sound, and proven methods. Leading Australian conservationists argue in favor of nonlethal means of protecting animals in the bush.  In urban settings, the humane and effective approach is to de-sex alley cats and return them to their outdoor homes. When cats are de-sexed, populations stabilise and then decline. 

Australians are banding together to ask Minister Hunt to end his department’s plan to kill millions of cats.  Join us.

Sign the pledge and declare that you want the government to do better by our nation’s cats.

http://getinvolved.alleycat.org/site/PageNavigator/2016Feb_Australia_Cats.html

 

[jennabengal]

Petitions won't work. Feral cats are killing precious wildlife.
Australia has a unique ecosystem, and cats are causing major havoc.
I can't see any alternative.
The cats are killed in a humane way. I don't see a problem with it

 

[jmarkitell]

Australia is a textbook case of wildlife management gone awry. A runaway rabbit population was challenged with a huge fence, to try to stop the spread of the rabbits, which failed. Poisons and tailor made rabbit disease was also tried. In western Pa, where I reside, it isn't unusual for cats to catch and eat rabbits. Why not introduce the cats and the rabbits...maybe it will help to solve both issues. Maybe the rabbits are too big? Killing a zillion cats will work as well as the plans for killing zillions of rabbits. Is this a winnable war?

 

[Kat0121]

 
Australia is a textbook case of wildlife management gone awry. A runaway rabbit population was challenged with a huge fence, to try to stop the spread of the rabbits, which failed. Poisons and tailor made rabbit disease was also tried. In western Pa, where I reside, it isn't unusual for cats to catch and eat rabbits. Why not introduce the cats and the rabbits...maybe it will help to solve both issues. Maybe the rabbits are too big? Killing a zillion cats will work as well as the plans for killing zillions of rabbits. Is this a winnable war?

Nope. It's been tried before and failed before and it will fail this time too. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. 

 

[jennabengal]

I don't believe any cats should be outside. I know it's not popular, but l see feral cats as vermin. My husband is a vet and he shoots any cat that comes on our property. We live in Australia, feral cats are a menace here.
A feral cat will still kill even though it's being fed. I don't believe in TNR, or feral colonies

 

[jennabengal]

Birds belong out side, cats do not

 

[msaimee]

If your husband is a vet and shoots feral cats, he may lose his clients, and even his license, if news of his behavior gets out into the community, especially among the people who bring their pets to him . Vets, like human doctors, take an oath to do no harm. For many pet-loving people, those who torture and kill cats are like "vermin."   

This is in response to the post: "I don't believe any cats should be outside. I know it's not popular, but l see feral cats as vermin. My husband is a vet and he shoots any cat that comes on our property."

I trapped, spayed, and took into my home a feral kitten three years ago that someone like your husband had shot. Amazingly, she survived, though her leg healed crooked, so she walks with a gait and can't jump very high. She still has the bullet inside her pelvis. Her name is Mia, and she is a sweet cat who enjoys playing with a wand toy, and who sits contentedly in the window. There's nothing she could have done to deserve the pain that was inflicted upon her. Feral and stray cats survive by eating trash or killing smaller prey. What would you do in their situation--lay down and starve to death? Most people who complain about cats killing birds aren't vegetarians, and don't apply the same standards to themselves, and eat the meat of animals that were killed for their own consumption. Cats kill from instinct and in order to survive--they don't stuff baby calves into tiny cages where they can't move, and force feed them until they're fat and lame, and then slaughter them to create veal. Humans are by far the worst predators on earth.

Has it ever occurred to you that some of the outdoor cats that your husband kills have caregivers who love them, and will have their hearts broken if they find them shot to death? I've taken into my home three feral cats and a semi-feral, and cared for another on my porch who wouldn't adjust to life indoors, until he passed.  Five months later, I'm still mourning his death, and so are my neighbors. He never killed any birds. I just hope and pray that your husband will stop killing these creatures of God, because in the process he may be breaking someone's heart. 

This is my feral, Mia, whom somebody shot three years ago.

Miawithwandtoy.jpg

• msaimee
• Aug 21, 2016

 

[ivashanko]

I'm not, in general, against the killing of certain wild animals especially if they put such a burden on the indigineous animal population (and cats can be extremely successful hunters and are good at wiping many types of animals out). So part of me does sympathise with the Australian government. But the methods they are using are barbaric and should be stopped.