J Rose, Mullumbimby
A miserable piece of rubbish, aka a cat, leaps 2.5m to catch a small water dragon on the wall in our garden. They are of far more value than the atrocious vermin that killed this one.
Anyone who is a cat owner (or cat lover, god forbid) should keep the vile creatures inside a secure cage on their property: if the vermin is let outside, it should be on a leash with either a human or a brick on the other end.
Vermin owners should not demonstrate deplorable irresponsibility by letting them loose on the neighbourhood. Anyone who thinks their kitty cat (vermin) is not an actual or potential native fauna killer is, not to put too fine a point on it, a confoundedly ignorant, irresponsible, demented, and deluded drongo.
I am the fond owner of 2 spriteful and affection Burmese cats, but I wholeheartedly agree that they should be kept solely indoors, which they are.
I add my voice to protest against those irresponsible cat (and dog) owners, who allow their pets to have access to the neighbourhood and/or flora and fauna.
I read your story to a cat I know. He looked at me with that look of utter disdain that only a cat can show for lesser creatures – like a dog or any non-cat person – and asked me to pass his feeling on to the writer of the letter.
Cats and their feral cousins have been let loose on this continent and are one of the largest threats to our native animals besides our own wilful distraction of native habitat. Even if humans stopped deforesting the land the feral cats will keep laying waste to the wildlife. Time for a bounty on feral cat skins. Or any cat skin in my opinion.
Agreed. We have footage of a cat which had jumped onto one of our cars, trying to jump a storey above to reach nesting rosellas in their box (it failed and was hilarious to watch). They are relentless hunters and have no place roaming free outdoors.
It’s very simple. Want a cat? That’s fine. Just get it desexed, microchipped and please keep it in a way which isn’t detrimental to the animal itself or the native fauna. If that’s too hard, don’t have a cat.