Cats

Control of cast is a very tricky question, primarily because it is a State responsibility not the Commonwealths (apart from on Commonwealth land). No two States have the same classification of cats between domestic home cats, feral cats in the Outback and those in between. The latter is bogged down because in law those in between could be regards as ‘property’. To molest them in any way could be a tort and might, just might, result in a law suit for damages to property. Complicating matters even further is that control of cats, if at all, is variously split between the States equivalent of the Department Parks and Wildlife and the States’ Department of Local Government. If it falls to the latter then it is usually hand balled to individual Councils or their equivalent. Some Councils in Adelaide have cat by-laws regarding registering, micro chipping, numbers permitted but for all practical purposes this is purely voluntary. No animal health officer could or is capable of rounding up cats to check whether they comply with the by-law. In the longer term one has to consider what might happen if one removed a predator in the food chain. Do feral cats keep foxes in control by competing for the same food supply? Look what happened in India when the vultures were almost exterminated. Feral dogs multiplied, human rabies cases increased, and so did leopards because dogs is their favourite food, and if there wasn’t a dog handy then a human would do. _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org