The Australia Letter: Balancing the Battle Against Feral and Domestic Cats
In Australia, the battle against feral cat populations has long been a priority, with substantial amounts of federal money, time, and resources dedicated to managing these predators. However, a new challenge has emerged – the management of domestic cats.
Local councils and animal management groups are calling for unified efforts to monitor both feral and domestic cat populations. The reason? Domestic cats breed just as fast, eat just as much, and can wreak as much havoc on native wildlife as their feral counterparts.
Nell Thompson, the secretary of the Australian Institute of Animal Management, believes that the Australian government should stop separating the handling of feral cats from that of domestic cats, as both are national issues. The challenge, she says, lies more with humans than with cats, citing poor communication with cat owners, inadequate funding, and insufficient data collection as key issues.
In remote Indigenous communities, where feral cat populations have boomed, the distinction between cats to kill and cats to keep is rooted in cultural beliefs. Feral cat hunters often double as domestic cat owners, taking feral kittens as pets. This has led to a significant increase in domestic cat populations, with annual growth rates reaching up to 250 percent.
Dr. Brooke Kennedy, a researcher leading the study on cat ownership in remote Indigenous communities, emphasizes the importance of building relationships with pet owners to ensure their participation in desexing programs and education efforts. Without sustained investment in these relationships, she warns, efforts to manage domestic cat populations will fail.
In big cities, the call is for urban policymakers to adopt a similar approach to animal management as seen in remote Indigenous communities – issuing fewer mandates, using better data, and engaging in cross-sector conversations at a national level.
The battle against feral cats in Australia is ongoing, but the challenge of managing domestic cat populations is now in the spotlight. Finding a balance between the detrimental environmental effects of domestic cats and the rights of owners to keep pets will require a collaborative and culturally sensitive approach.
