Stand up for your cat

I like cats, i have two of them.

But theres no doubt that a cat roaming freely outside is a localised bio-diversity catastrophy!

Feral cats

Map showing locations of feral cats in Australia

From Assessing Invasive Animals in Australia (2008) National Land & Water Resources Audit, Canberra

Feral cats threaten the survival of over 100 native species in Australia. They have caused the extinction of some ground-dwelling birds and small to medium-sized mammals. They are a major cause of decline for many land-based endangered animals such as the bilby, bandicoot, bettong and numbat. Many native animals are struggling to survive so reducing the number killed by this introduced predator will allow their populations to grow.

Feral cats can carry infectious diseases which can be transmitted to native animals, domestic livestock and humans.

The way I read the post is that it referred to a BBC radio report about cats in Australia. Which I heard myself, and I took it a face value. It didn't suggest that cats in Ireland should be restricted.

You must mean stray cats. The ones destroying wildlife in Australia are proper feral.

Stray:

• A stray cat is a cat who lived indoors and was socialized to people at some point in her life, but has left or lost her home, or was abandoned, and no longer has regular human contact.
• Over time, a stray cat can become feral as her contact with humans dwindles.
• A stray cat may be socialized enough to allow people to touch her, but she will become less socializedor even feralif she spends too much time without positive interaction with humans.
• Under the right circumstances, a stray cat can also become a pet cat once again. Stray cats that are re-introduced to an indoor home after living outdoors may require a period of time to re-acclimate; they may be frightened and wary after spending time outside away from people.

Feral:

• A feral cat is an unsocialized outdoor cat who has either never had any physical contact with humans, or human contact has diminished over enough time that she is no longer accustomed to it. Most feral cats are fearful of people and are not likely to ever become a lap cat or enjoy living indoors.

I did not note any hysteria in the radio report about Australia. I knew nothing about the subject, but a little research on the internet suggests that it is a far from trivial issue. I was aware of the damage being done in Australia by other introduced animals, like rabbits and camels.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/australias-cats-kill-two-billion-animals-annually-180977235/

oh goodie, an excuse to post pics of cats I've snapped on my travels this week ...

"let them eat birds"

Same for me and true.Cats in Oz are decimating the native species of various small animals,some are already extinct.Cats were imported to Australia-most likely to keep the British gentry entertained.

The states? Is that the United States of America because Australia has states as well.A holiday there?

I think its slightly misleading to say "cats" not "feral cats" even after its pointed out.

It nothing to do with being fond of cats or not. Its because while you can keep a pet cat inside a feral cat you can't. Its an entirely different problem.

Which one has  Coyote, Cougars?

While exceedingly rare unfortunately it has happened.

It seemed like it needed clarifying.

Probably also came off ships as I think rats did.