- cross-posted to:
- environment@aussie.zone
- cross-posted to:
- environment@aussie.zone
I am not here to make the case that cats should be kept indoors for the sake of local wildlife – that case has been made over and over and over and over again. Cat owners know these arguments, and if they have not been persuaded by the fact that cats kill more than 6 million native animals in Australia a day they will not be persuaded by me.
There is a fairly tedious assumption that if you love wildlife you must hate cats, and visa versa. And nothing will turn cat people off faster than encountering a person who hates cats.
I understand this. I also hate people who hate cats. So let’s set the birds and the bettongs to one side for the moment, and consider the other, obvious fact: cats should be kept indoors for the sake of cats.
Surprised a similar law mandating cats stay inside hasn’t been implemented in NZ. Considering all of the work y’all are doing with the Predator Free 2050 project.
The question is how?
Taking outdoor cats and making them indoor is pretty cruel.
It seems easiest to first require all cats to be regged/microchipped, and a few years in start a “cats born after X date must be kept indoors and not roaming.”
Every damn time. “waaaah but outdoor cat” an outdoor cat has a lifespan about a tenth of that of an indoor cat. Outdoor cats are quite happy to be indoor cats if you invest the barest modicum of effort into making an environment that meets their needs rather than just going “baah fluffy murder mittens wants to go and kill natives and if I don’t let him he makes noises at me”
???
Source needed
Have you ever tried to stop a cat that has had outdoor access for years from going outside?
YES. IT’S NOT HARD.
While it can be done well and with kindness to the cat, its also very easy to do with cruelty.
That links content does not match the title you’ve given it.
Keep your cat inside.
Where do you live, in Australia or NZ, that doesn’t have a requirement that all Cats (and Dogs for that matter) be registered and microchipped?
Its all lf new zealand. Regional councils may have different rules.
Wow, that’s disappointing. In Victoria, both have been required since I was really little. I remember taking our cat & dog into a free council clinic to get them chipped. There’s also been a dusk to dawn cat curfew for about a decade. I thought NZ would at least be as progressive as my state on the issue.
The alternative would be to put the cat down to protect the wildlife, and that doesn’t sound much less cruel to me.
In that case it very much is a choice between the cat and the wildlife.
I’m surprised by this.
Considering that NZ is the country where one individual is responsible for an entire extinction, and modern NZ is one of the most progressive countries in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyall's_wren
I’m sorry but New Zealanders generally make Aussies look like Woodstock-era hippies.
They are very conservative generally.
I wish people would stop putting NZ on a pedestal. They have ceded often to agricultural interests over environmental concerns resulting in untold damage. The damage they have done to their soil and waterways is apocalyptic.
I always giggle at the idea of Billionaires “escaping” there not realising the soil is completely depleted already and the water table is poisoned by agricultural runoff.