Eco group says Tamworth cat owners should keep their pets inside

The Tamworth Regional Landcare Association (TRLA) makes many attempts to restore and support local biodiversity, and have identified the impact of roaming and feral cats as a key issue for the local area.

"The science tells us that pet cats who are allowed to roam are killing, on average, 110 native mammals, birds, or reptiles every year," TRLA member Penny Milson said.

An estimated 11,229 pet cats live in the Tamworth area, and with 71 per cent of 'cat households' allowing their cats to roam freely for part or all of the day, this means losing more than 875,000 of Tamworth's native mammals, birds, or reptiles per year.

In 85 per cent of cases, hunted animals are not brought home as trophies, meaning every roaming cat has the potential to contribute to the problem.

"Even if [pet owners] don't see evidence of their pets killing animals, it doesn't mean it's not happening," Ms Milson said.

READ ALSO:

To begin efforts to fix this problem, TRLA held a community information session featuring a panel of local experts on Tuesday, March 21.

"We wanted to begin to look at what we can do to curb the problem," Ms Milson said.

One of the panellists, Invasive Species Controller Donald Berwick, told the 36 people in attendance the best way for them to prevent the issue from developing any further is to have any pet cats de-sexed and contained at night, as studies have shown nearly 40 per cent of pet cats sneak out in the night time.

"That will help with the domestic cat side of things and help me do my job of focusing on feral cats instead," Mr Berwick said.

Ultimately, the best way to stop roaming cats from disturbing local environments is to keep them contained 24 hours per day (either inside a house or contained in an outdoor cat run).

Another reason to keep cats inside is to improve their health, reducing their exposure to diseases such as toxoplasmosis, a parasite which can be spread to humans via cat feces contaminating soil or plants, causing physical and mental illness, miscarriage and birth defects.

"The [parasite] eggs can be found in garden soil, vegetable gardens, unwashed vegetables, children's sand pits, kitty litter, contaminated water, and contaminated dust," retired GP Dr Lyn Allen said.

Once again, however, the primary impact is on local wildlife, as many animals, including livestock, can be made ill by the parasite.

Tamworth Regional Council's Director of Liveable Communities Gina Vereker was also at the meeting to inform the community on how council approaches the problem, namely by operating under the Companion Animals Act in euthanising stray and feral cats surrendered to council.

Pet cats with microchips are returned to their owners, so Ms Vereker stressed the importance of responsible pet ownership, ensuring pet cats are desexed, microchipped, and kept indoors or in a cat run 24 hours a day.

Councillors Helen Tickle and Marc Sutherland were also present at the meeting and early talks of a partnership between council, TRLA, and other environmentally-conscious groups such as Tamworth Birdwatchers, are underway.

"I think there's some really good opportunity to investigate ways that Tamworth Regional Council can contribute positively to this space ... it would be worth exploring what kind of policies we might be able to create locally to make sure we're being proactive rather than reactive," Cr Sutherland said.

"Our native species are up against it already with climate change ... so now more than ever we should be paying attention to the additional issue of feral, stray, and roaming cats," Ms Milson said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: