Cats have been domestic pets in the UK since at least the times of Roman civilisation, and have been allowed to roam free for much of that time. It's odd to me that there's such a contrast between attitudes towards cats roaming in Europe (which I would say is completely the norm, particularly in e.g. the UK) and the United States (and now Australia), though perhaps this is just down to different native fauna.<p>> The EU’s executive said Thursday that it is “a strong defender of free movement rights — including of cats” and “categorically” denied it would ever force cats to be kept indoors or on a leash, as one scientific study suggests.<p>The RSPB themselves have said:<p>“While we know that cats do kill large numbers of birds in UK gardens, there’s no evidence this is affecting decline in the same way that these other issues are” (habitat/food loss from climate change)<p>Research in the UK has suggested cats are mostly preying on the "doomed surplus": <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1474-919X.2008.00836.x" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1474-919X....</a><p>> we (4) compared the condition of those birds killed by cats versus those killed in collisions, e.g. window strikes. Mean (± sd) cat density was 348 ± 86 cats/km2 (n = 10 sites); considering the eight species most commonly taken by cats, the mean ratios of adult birds/cats and juvenile birds/cats across the five sites were 1.17 ± 0.23 and 3.07 ± 0.74, respectively<p>><p>> Across species, cat-killed birds were in significantly poorer condition than those killed following collisions; this is consistent with the notion that cat predation represents a compensatory rather than additive form of mortality.
I've barred cats from the garden here after cleaning up a pile of trash for the nth time. It took some doing but it's mostly solved and it is incredible how quickly the birds seem to have found out that our garden is a safe haven. I've seen bird species that I didn't even know were in this region.
In Western Australia (I think), cats are already restricted to the house plus exterior deck/veranda/patio, which must be caged to prevent them from going further. This is referred to as a ‘catio’. I suspect that, given the bugs, putting an insect screen around your patio has other benefits too.
Googling for other articles in this with more details, it looks the places that have implemented cat curfews are requiring cats to be indoors at night.<p>That's interesting, because in the US most concern over cats killing other animals is for birds and those birds are almost all diurnal. The non-birds cats kill a lot of are also mostly diurnal or crepuscular (active around sunrise and sunset). The nocturnal animals cats kill seem to be mostly things that most people are happy to have them kill (rats and mice).<p>So in the US if there was a cat curfew I'd expect it to be that cats have to be indoors by dawn, and can't be let out until the end of twilight.<p>A cat curfew at night in Australia suggests that it is nocturnal animals Australians are worried about. Which animals are those?<p>Are cats not as big a problem for diurnal animals there because those animals are scary Australian animals that cats are afraid to fuck with, or scary Australian animals that people are happy to have cats get rid of?
This is not an issue just for Australia. There seems to be an epidemic of stray cats here in the US also. Many come from people that leave their animals behind when they have to move, and the issue seems to escalate every time there is a downturn in the economy.
I live in the suburbs in SF Bay Area, and at night when I walk my dog, I never see cats roaming around. I see coyotes, foxes, skunks, and raccoons. My guess is if you don't kill the coyotes and foxes they control the cat population.
"Do We Really Know That Cats Kill By The Billions? Not So Fast"<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/02/03/170851048/do-we-really-know-that-cats-kill-by-the-billions-not-so-fast" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/02/03/170851048/do-we...</a>
Where I live we're completely overrun with squirrels. I'd have no problem with more roaming cats killing them, ditto for pigeons. Are they actually threatening species or just eating animals? If it's the latter it doesn't seem like a problem. Fewer cats is going to mean more vermin, we'll see how people like it then.
I find the title and article really strange. Murder is specifically defined as the UNLAWFUL killing of a HUMAN BEING.<p>Murder basically is a legal definiton. Anything else is just killing. And I don't think this definition applies to cats at all.<p>"Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethough" (1)<p>1 - <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder</a>
Chinese people cook cats and dogs, Australia should allow more immigrants. Chinese mafia also lends them money to start business in other countries like restaurants. And China's covert overseas police that operates in each city controls them. It's a win-win situation. /s