The Australian Cat Genocide - parallels to Population Reduction?

The Australian Cat Genocide - parallels to Population Reduction?

cats.about.com

I am indebted to Janalee Faucher of Catscape for the following material, which appeared originally on her web site:

The Australian government promotes Australia as a modern country and tourist heaven. Australia has a sterling reputation in the U.S. and it is a very popular tourist destination. We are urged to think of it as "the Wonderland Down Under." The reputation and the nickname are undeserved, when one considers the Australian government's treatment of feral cats.

We owe it to our cat-loving friends down under to give them every assistance possible to stop the carnage promulgate

(visit the link for the full news article)

Now this part, I find incredibly strange, with the Swine Flu and everything.

It has often been suggested that feline influenza be introduced into the feral cat population as a means of control. In eastern Australia it has been shown that many feral cats already have antibodies to this in their blood (13). These animals would be immune and would be unlikely to die from a subsequent infection of the virus. Transmission rates of feline influenza virus are also low and it is more likely to affect domestic rather than feral cats. The greater population density of domestic cats in urban areas would provide better conditions for the spread of the disease. The use of feline influenza virus is opposed by health authorities.

cats.about.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Do a bit of reading about the plague in Europe. From what I have read the killing of vast numbers of cats is what allowed the rodent population to become so huge that the resulting horror ensued.

Being a cat lover this is very upsetting to me but feral cats are a huge problem. We have a program here where the cats are caught, vets donate their services, spay them and notch their ears so they are not caught again. This is a far more humane approach. Releasing a virus in the feral population will only send that virus to the highly vulnerable domesticated cat population, and that is not fair.

So sad.

I am from Australia and this is the first I have heard of this method being used against feral cats. Ive personally shot a few, and have placed poison baits around in rural areas but never heard of them releasing a cat flu to control them.

If you knew the problems feral cats caused to livestock and even domestic pets you would probably think twice about not killing them. When you drive around checking your farm of a morning and find several lambs torn to shreds, their guts trailing out of them, and you realise the violent death that this poor thing suffered you begin to lose a little love for the feral version of the feline species.

Having said that I own two cats of my own that I love but I take good care to keep them away from mischief.

reply to post by Donnie Darko

Feral cats in Australia are fast-breeding carnivores that thoroughly disrupt the ecosystem here, threatening many native species with extinction. We have no native cat here. Cats do not belong in the Australian bush and have to be controlled.

However no-one here is suggesting releasing feline influenza. That's a stupid beat-up by the cat site you refer to. I'm guessing they need more advertising revenue.

There are clues to look for in assessing the honesty of a claim. The harder the source is to pin down, the less likely the story is based on fact.

The basis of your worry is this sentence:

It has often been suggested that feline influenza be introduced into the feral cat population as a means of control.

Notice the lack of any date, any attribution or any source.
None of the links at the bottom of the article mention feline influenza or any biological control of this nature.

I love cats, and have a neutered one, (found as a stray,) on my lap right now. But our environment in Australia cannot handle them, so wild ones must be controlled.

These days the emphasis is on catching feral cats, neutering them, and releasing them. This way the released ones keep the breeding cats out of the area to prevent the cat population increasing.

I don't like the sound of this.

I too am a cat owner (rather it owns me). I'd like to think I'm responsible, the cat is de-sexed and got bells on her collar to give the birds a heads up when she's around plus I keep her indoors at night. But yes, Kryties is right. Feral cats cause big problems not only to livestock but also the native critters as well. I don't like the idea of baiting either, not sure what would be the best solution but I reckon cat flu isn't it.

G"DAY ALL,

I have a Puddy Tat of my own and love him dearly, but I keep him in side at night as I know he is a hunter, that is what cat's do.

Now ferals, may it be cats, fox's, frogs or rabbit's out in the bush are killing our wild life.

We can not let and will not let animals or any other that are not from Australia take over and kill Australian wild life. If there is a safe and humane way to get rid of ferals I am for it.

"But" we have done it before, and we made it worse in the past, hence the Cane Toad!!!!!

Now Cat flue would be insane!!!!!!!

I think that the Australians have it cracked. Cats are not good news to wildlife and in Oz there is widespread consensus amongst environmentalists and conservationists that cats are bad news. I know there are lots of cat lovers who may be appalled by the thought that their little Tiddles is a carnivore and may be shocked to learn that they are designed to kill other animals.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the UK estimates that cats kill 55 million birds each year (c. 250 millions animals). These would be domestic cats because there is not a significant feral cat population in the UK, but image if there was a feral population like in Australia. We would have no wildlife left except fat cats.

If the Australians can find a way to kill feral cats en masse, then that is surely good news for wildlife. In the 1950’s the Australians introduced myxomatosis to sort out their rabbit problem (another introduced species), so there is a precedent for this type of approach. In the myxie case the rabbit population was decimated which was not good for Mr Bunny, but good for the Australian ecology.

Non native species, whether cats, dogs, rats, goats, hedgehogs, foxes or squirrels can - and do - cause mayhem to indigenous flora and fauna. There are many examples of the invaders being removed. New Zealand are not too impressed with rats, Isle of Uist have a problem with hedgehogs, goats are a menace in several places, not least on the unique ecosystems of the Galapagos and grey squirrels should be shot without mercy in the UK where they have displaced the native red squirrel and are ruinous to birdlife.

Meow - Bang!

Regards