Stray domestic cats are a common sight in the cities. In Australia, however, a city council is bothered by this – and therefore wants to order the animals under house arrest.
Fremantle – When dogs need exercise, take them for a walk. Cats, on the other hand, prefer to go for a walk with themselves and prefer to stroll through gardens, streets and parks. A city in Australia is now bothered by the freedom of cats and has decided to forbid them to run free.
The Fremantle City Council, Western Australia, has planned a series of new rules that will prohibit stray cats from entering any area owned by the city. In addition to parks and meadows, the regulation also includes roads and the adjacent bushland. The only exception: the cat is walked on a leash by the owner.
Australia: domestic wildlife should be protected from cats
According to City Councilor Adin Lang, this bizarre decision is intended to protect the native wildlife that takes refuge in the city’s many green strips and bushes. But the cats themselves should also be protected. The rules are designed to minimize the risk of cats being hit by passing cars. In an interview with the news portal Western Australia Today , the city council said: “It’s about protecting our wild animals and also about protecting cats from cat fights and car accidents.”
“In the 1970s, dogs roamed our streets and I now expect that stray cats will also be a thing of the past,” Lang explains the decision to the local newspaper Perth Now . Although there are prohibited zones in the surrounding bushland, the cats do not seem to be too interested in the prohibitions and continue to roam around in them.
Cats live longer and healthier lives with house arrest
The chairman of a local group for stray cats, Tom Hatton, told the city council that the regulations make sense and are necessary. Hatton cites two reasons why it is better to keep cats only indoors: “First, the pressure that free roaming domestic cats put on urban wildlife is enormous, and second, domestic cats live longer and much healthier when they are not roaming freely. “Domestic cats also kill 30 times more wildlife than adult cats in the wild, according to Hatton.
The city council of Fremantle must now decide whether the planned rule changes will be passed or the house cats will be allowed to continue to breathe fresh air. (ij)
