Thousands of Sydney Residents at War With Nuisance Dogs & Owners

[The Spotted Devil]

4 hours ago, Rebanne said:

 

I have to say, after having cats confined for over 20 years now, that I have never had trouble with cats trying to dash out or howling to be let out, except for one that had had freedom for approx 12 years. All the other cats over that time where quite happy to be kept inside. Maybe because they have the choice to be inside or out in the cattery because it is attached to the house?

Yes having the choice of an enclosure really helps but it's more the OH who gives into them all the time or thinks it's cute to let them stroll in the dog yard *rolls eyes*  I taught Miss Brontë not to door dash and everyone asks to go the enclosure no problem. Until Mr TSD took their cooperation for granted. 

[mr.mister]

Oops @The Spotted Devil When I said education I meant general public rather than the cats themselves

 

Managing door dashers (I have an ex door dasher here) can be challenging but I don't think it's impossible. Hence my comment of 'not can't, wont'. You* can either manage them carefully or go ah f**k it and just let them loose using the excuse of 'I just can't keep them in!' Which I think is the excuse the general public default to. 

 

*the general 'you'

Edited January 21, 2017 by mr.mister

[Ripley]

I'm so glad my neighbours don't have cats. They aren't popular in my street. So we have green tree frogs, blue tongues and lots of parrots in our backyard. I'm female and have never liked cats, but I owned a lilac Burmese given to me by a guy at work who was moving overseas. I was going to just foster her but as she had no hunting instinct, was great with my two parrots and didn't scratch or jump up on the benches and even let me bath her, I kept her. She was more like a dog than a cat and that's the only reason I became very attached to her. Can't stand your average marauding moggie. Wish there were cat curfews at night in every suburb. 

 

The dog over the fence barks whenever I'm watering my plants up near the back fence line. Really annoying I can't enjoy my own yard sometimes. They call it inside when it does, but it's a real barker. Looks like a golden retriever but I can only see a fluffy golden coloured shape running up and down through the gaps and I'm not about to stick my head over the fence. The shrubs are fortunately fence height now anyway. 

Edited January 23, 2017 by Ripley

[PossumCorner]

On ‎18‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 8:43 AM, melzawelza said:

 

 .... Legislation like that would also completely hinder Trap/Neuter/Release programs for unowned/community cats, which is the *only* effective and humane way to manage unowned cats, particularly in the suburbs.  ..... 

 

Is this for real??  I was over the moon when our Council introduced the cat curfew years ago in the hope of reducing the killing of Lyrebirds in Sherbrooke Forest.  (I don't think anyone has actually been fined over it, but hope springs eternal).

 

I'm gobsmacked to learn that any Council ever released adult cats into a situation where they are not under any control, so they can decimate wildlife to their little furry heart's content.

 

Loads of feral cats where I live now, or farm cats with a wide-ranging territory and palate.  Yes they'll take mice or rabbits, but no more than every kind of wild-life, lizards, ringtail possums, whatever's kill-able.  And small poultry: (thought I'd lost some chickens to a fox til I saw the feral cat having a field day).   

 

[persephone]

T NR programs are a good plan in VERY LARGE CBD   areas ... otherwise - nope .

[Ripley]

10 hours ago, PossumCorner said:

 

 

 

I'm gobsmacked to learn that any Council ever released adult cats into a situation where they are not under any control, so they can decimate wildlife to their little furry heart's content.

 

 

I heard that the Cat Protection Society in Sydney do this around the Malabar bush area, their reasoning being if they trapped, another feral one would take its place. Not sure how true this is and it was a few years ago now that I was told this - again, not sure if its true or not but someone who worked around the area told me as she was pretty annoyed about it.

 

I've found a lot of English people now living here have a very different attitude to cats and the ones I used to work with had no problem letting their cats roam in Sydney and thought if they caught one of our native wildlife it was 'just nature' as that's the attitude they had in the UK. That was my experience working in offices full of Brits though. I remember staying at this accredited 'Eco' lodge in Scotland and the owner had this cat that kept coming into our bedroom of the B&B they owned. I saw it on the kitchen bench while she was preparing her guests' breakfast too! She let it outside and told me it killed a few chaffinches and endangered red squirrels but that was nature. Nothing eco about their place other than they conserved water and had a vegie garden! Seeing I booked it because it had eco accreditation, I ended up writing to the place that gave them the eco stars and telling them but doubt anything happened - very different attitude to cats over there I found.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2017 by Ripley

[melzawelza]

Trap/Neuter/Release is incredibly effective for reducing numbers of unowned cats, especially in urban environments. 

Catch & kill is completely ineffective unless we're talking about small islands, and evidence shows that killing can increase cat numbers by between 75% - 211%. 

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2015/04/07/4203004.htm

Edited January 23, 2017 by melzawelza