2015/14: Should the owners of domestic cats have to keep their pets permanently indoors?





Introduction to the media issue

Video clip at right:
On July 29, 2015, 7 News telecast a report on the federal government’s plans to have all cat owners living in environmentally sensitive areas permanently confine these pets. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.


What they said...
'Wildlife populations have been isolated and reduced largely because of habitat clearance, but domestic cat predation can be the final straw that leads to local extinctions'
Jon Stanhope, former chief minister of the ACT, and proponent of 24-hour cat containment

'If we want to have the greatest impact on protecting native wildlife, putting more resources into eradicating ferals, reducing development in new areas, harsher penalties for those who fail to desex their animals and addressing road kill is likely to be more effective than requiring everyone with a cat to build a cage on the side of their houses'
Canberra Times editorial April 7, 2015

The issue at a glance
On July 28, 2015, it was reported that the Australian federal government is seeking public support for plans to have pet cats living near areas where there are endangered native wildlife species contained within doors.
Australia's first threatened species commissioner, Gregory Andrews, has called for all cat owners to keep their pets contained 24 hours a day
On April 1, 2015, a group of prominent Australian conservationists co-signed a letter from former ACT chief minister Jon Stanhope urging the ACT government to bring forward a cat containment declaration for Canberra.
The ACT government has been considering widening cat containment beyond the new suburbs to cover all of the territory, after falling behind other states on the issue.
Under the proposal cats would be contained within their owner's property 24 hours a day.
However, a range of cat experts and enthusiasts as well as some veterinarians have argued that the proposals made by both the federal government and the ACT group are extreme and unfeasible.