(Australia) Attitudes to Cats and the Environment

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

Australia has more than its fair

share of cat haters and Environazis who target any species but humans as a

cause

for environmental degradation. We also have the notorious John Wamsley who

was a

founder of Earth Sanctuaries (touted as an ethical investment even though

Wamsley

used to wear a cat skin hat and has offered bounties for cat skins which may

have led

to the death of peoples pet cats.) In Western Australia, many poor abandoned

cats

(renamed feral to take away any claim to dignity they may have) are killed

by cruel

1080 baits and other poisons.

 

I thought you would enjoy the astute comments made by my friend Astrid who

attended

a recent Conservation Society Christmas party.

Astrid spoke to a man at this year's Christmas party who apparently used

to kill abandoned/feral cats and examine their stomach contents to see how

many

wild animals (birds, rats, reptiles etc) the cats might have eaten. He

started his usual cat

hate rehtoric and Astrid replied that he should examine the stomach contents

of most humans because they were mostly full of dead animals too. The sheep,

cattle and other introduced animals farmed and eaten by humans in Australia

devastate the Australian environment and lead to more and more land being

cleared for these animals.

This contributes to more species extinctions. The

excreta of these animals also damages the environment as do their hard

hooves. Humans have caused more species extictions than any other species

either directly or indirectly. Yet we are so quick to vilify cats. Needless

to say the man was annoyed by her comments and left the room.

(Astrid is right - real conservationists should be vegetarians since farmed

animals

cause more and more damage to our environment).

 

As an example of the attitudes of some people in Australia, here is an

exerpt I saved from an Environmental mailing list I joined (and later left)

about

a year ago.

 

Fwd............................

Lynette,

Whilst driving from Geraldton to Perth a couple of years ago, I stumbled

across a feral cat that had been struck on the road. Simply out of

curiosity, I made a quick incision, with my trusty pocket knife, to view the

cats stomach contents. The contents were:

4 Skinks (or other small lizards)

3 Geckos

3 small Birds

In my eye Lynette, yes THIS CAT WAS A VILLIAN!!!!

 

What do you hope to achieve, Lynette, by questioning whether or not a

particular species has been wiped out " purely and solely " by cats? You do

not need to be Einstein nor read a library of reference books and journals

to understand what is happening. It is quite evident and obvious to me that

the large feral cat population found in this country, contributes to

unnaturally large 'selective pressure' on our native fauna.

We (conservation biologists) would all like to see an army of research

biologists to trudge out into the bush and perform population dynamics for

each and every species in this country in relation to the presence or

absence of the feral cat, but it is not going to happen. If it did, however,

I'm sure you would have plenty to READ in regard to your beloved cats!!

What we do need to do is accept the fact that the cats are detrimental to

our native fauna and something should be done to curb there ever expanding

population.

 

Mike Vanderman may well have jumped to conclusions stating that " Feral cats

have wiped out whole species of natives " . Maybe he should have stated, as I

will, that " Feral cats have (and will continue) to contribute significantly

to the demise and destruction of our native fauna populations until there

are moves toward their successful eradication. "

 

Lynette, get your nose out of the literature, wake up and smell the stomach

contents!!

 

Tobias Zillessen

 

**************************

 

I hope next year is a better one for all the animals.

 

Kind regards,

 

Marguerite