numbers

Hi, I actually asked this on another thread below, but i think it warrants its own thread as ive seen these silly comments before. Basically, ive read on numerous threads that some Auzzies dont like cats because they are bad for the environment

How on gods earth can My Beautiful cat Jigsaw cause damage to the environment??, i really dont know what they mean. He goes out all the time, the worst he does is have a poo, but then every outdoor animals poo!! Cats inherehtly dont stray further than 50 yards from their Food Bowl, so im lost on that one. It is humans who I dislike the most who Really do damage the environment, im ok with people who dont like cats, as long as they dont hurt mine i could care less, but surely its nothin to do with the environment!

Ive attached a photo of Daddy (me) and my baby boy, Damage to the Environment Indeed !!! , i just dont get it. Tony (sorry bout the pic, but i want to share Jigsaw with you, My life), i know im sad!! Anybody out there love their cat as much as me, and want to stand up and say "were bringing our cats to OZ, and were gonna turn you all into Cat lovers"

jayr

Because it will eat the environment.

numbers

Absolute Tosh!!

jayr

"Australia has the highest rate of mammal extinction in the world. Many of its unique species are threatened with extinction. The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) fears the country will lose 50% of its bird species in the next century. According the ACF, the biggest problem is land clearing but according to other parties, the predatory habits of alien species - in particular the domestic cat - is the main threat to Australian native wildlife."

http://www.messybeast.com/ausdilemma.htm

numbers

I still think its Tosh, Extract from your article...

"In fact, if cats had done even a quarter of the damage claimed for the past 200 years, there would be no small native animals of any description left in Australia. While there is no denying that cats kill wildlife, cats they are also convenient scapegoats for wildlife depletion due to human activities.

It is the cat and the responsible cat-owners who are suffering. Many Australian environmentalists are now extremely 'anti-cat'. One wildlife park Warden proudly wears a cat-skin hat and gives anti-cat lectures to visitors, proclaiming that the only good cat is a dead one. All cats, both pets and ferals, are now caught in the middle of a propaganda war which has spilled over into the Australian Parliament with some MPs calling for culls, curfew and compulsory registration (the 3 Cs)."

Basically, its all tosh to cover up a Cat Hate Campaign. You really think a country the size of Auz has a cat problem?? Dreadful excuse, sorry!! oh one more extract for good luck ---

"At present there is much conflicting 'information' about the amount of damage done by cats in Australia. Some authorities claim that cats are hunting native wildlife to extinction. Others claim cats are unfairly targetted since overclearing and overstocking of land in the late 1800s and the introduction of the Red Fox for sport in 1910 made had a worse impact on wildlife numbers. Sometimes the attempted cures are as bad as the initial problem - a huge number of native animals fall victim to 1080 poison and steel-jaw traps set for bush cats.

Not surprisingly this has led to pro-cat and anti-cat camps in Australia, with dubious survey statistics being used to fuel the debate. A writer in the Australian magazine NATIONAL CAT likened the Australian attitude towards cats to that in Medieval Europe. Australia is in the grip of intense anti-cat feeling; cats are viewed as evil, destructive creatures and restrictions on cat ownership are planned. There are reports of anti-cat pogroms and cats being kidnapped, tortured and killed, just as they were in the Middle Ages, by people bamboozled by 'rubbery' statistics presented by anti-cat campaigners."

jayr

I posted the article because it seemed fairly balanced. I'm not anti-cat, though there's no denying that one extra cat in Austrlaia is likely to cause more environmental damage than no extra cats in Australia - or humans for that matter.

numbers

Thanks Jayr, I wasnt getting at you, im glad you posted the article, i just dont agree with it thats all, interesting debate. I think though as more and more expats move to OZ with their cats, Auzzies will have to adapt like we are to. ANyway, im sure in the "burbs" my cat will be safe, because I would use all my energy to hurt anyone who hurt my cat, as long as were left alone, then we will all be happy ONe day, all your attitudes will change im sure, why not get one and youl see

bondipom

Dogs do damage as well but cat owners are often in denial of what their sneeze inducing furrballs can do. A colleague of mine shoots cats when he goes hunting outback. That as well as foxes, rabbits and pigs because they all damage the environment. Undoubtedly humans are the largest threat but we also introduced the above animals.

Sadly there are a lot of irresponsible cat and dog owners who do not keep the fuzzballs under control and who do not neuter them. The cats get out and rip the heads off bird life. The Australian bird life has not ever had such a predator.

I suggest there is a cat loving lobby trying to justify what their kitties do.

Bodger

Hmm. Not sure it's tosh to be honest. Birds have a low infant survival rate, and can't produce too many broods per year. It wouldn't take too many cats to produce a problem, they are very efficient hunters.

I'm not a cat (or any other animal) hater, but I think cats can have a significant impact

jad n rich

Not a cat hater either, but what jayr has said is true, much of australias natvie wildlife is being killed by domestic cats, cats are natural night time hunters.

Im not australian but I dont think people coming to australia should think australia has to get used to them and their pets, its the other way round, get used to australia and its wildlife. Take snakes and spiders here for a reason, yet most poms aim to kill them, great now lets get over run with rats

Anyone with a cat or dog, australian or english should have a bit of respect for the native environment which has a delicate balance for survival and is easily destroyed.

Now I sound like a hippie

ABCDiamond

Before I say anything I will state that I am not anti-cat, unless they scratch me

That webpage also mentions a survey of surveys, and part of it has:
and
This last quote must be considered when people talk about shooting cats, its mainly feral cats that they are shooting, although not always!

In our local area there was a council survey done on whether cats should be microchipped in the same way as dogs. That itself created a few comments; Dog owners think that cats should be under the same controls as dogs, but many Cat owners disagreed. One end result being that most non cat owners thought that many cat owners were irresponsible by not wanting any control of their cats, in the same way as for dogs.

Elvira

I have 'owned' 4 cats in my life.

Cat # 1 (died aged 13) never, to my knowledge, caught/killed a bird.

Cat # 2 (died aged 3 - much too young) never, to my knowledge, caught/killed a bird.

Cat # 3 (died aged 12) caught + killed one starling and one pigeon - both clearly old and/or ill.

Cat # 4 (aged 4 + still very much alive) caught one baby bird

So, that's 32 cat years and only 1 real 'murder'...

And I still wonder whether the baby bird wasn't simply the bird equivalent of the runt of the litter!

wombat42

You Poms come over here and want to kill off all the environmentaly friendly animals, because you think they look " Beastly" as you put it, such as spiders, which kill insects and keep their numbers under control, and snakes and lizards which eat rats. However you bring out here what you consider to be cute animals such as rabbits and cats which have destroyed Oz's envronment and half its native animals. Your cats may seem cute and friendly during the day but at night they turn into brutal killers slaughtering native Aussie creatures in a killing rampage just for fun not food.
What about all the cute baby Wombats they kill.
The last thing Oz needs in another cat, l don't know why people are'nt banned from bringing them into the country.
If you bring your cats over here you are going to risk them being shot or poisoned by environmentalists such as John Wamsley the guy who won the Australian environmentalist of the year award for going around shooting cats and turning them into fur hats. Click the link below.

www.abc.net.au/rural/legends/stories/7_1.htm

Elvira

I never trust any websites whose owners cannot spell

wombat42

l have corrected the spelling mistake and the link on my post now works.
www.abc.net.au/rural/legends/stories/7_1.htm