Australia imposes curfew on cats – ‘He felt like a lion in a cage’

In short, life is good in Australia: unspoiled nature, wonderful beaches, worth seeing metropolises and friendly inhabitants. Nevertheless, one or the other watson user reading this article should be glad that he does not currently live in Australia. Particularly those of you who live with cats.

Because feral cats, as well as cats kept as pets, kill billions of mammals, birds and other creatures every year, several Australian places are now declaring war on the feline creatures.

For example, as the “The Wall Street Journal” writes, domestic cats in suburban Adelaide are prohibited from leaving their owner’s property alone between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. In some parts of Australia, about half of local governments have cracked down on cats, with pet owners resisting and facing hundreds of dollars in fines. The regulations go beyond a nightly curfew; in certain places, domestic cats are completely forbidden from running around outside.

The rules set by the government allow cat owners to get creative, buying harnesses and leashes and trying to move their four-legged friends around the houses. On social networks, tips are exchanged for building cheap housing. If you want to invest a little more money, you can set up a professional fence, which sometimes encompasses the entire garden. The stricter a community’s rules, the more profit it makes for companies like Custom Cat Runs, which offers cat run building services.

Australian animal welfare organization RSPCA Australia has responded to the new terms and created a 24-page guide showing how to properly keep cats at home. Options are playing cat music or hiding the food for the animals to find.

It goes without saying that not all cat owners are happy with the new regulations, some complain that they don’t have room for a complex enclosure, others believe that animals such as foxes are also responsible for the death of birds etc. Braden Anderson, 40 years old old and pub manager, holds the cat Willow and tells The Wall Street Journal:

High school teacher Alison Clifton supports the new cat rules, but reports some problems. Her cat, Moriarty, wears a harness, but once he escaped because he was afraid of the rain. Clifton also emphasizes, “You can’t tell a cat to come home after dark.”

Office manager Kelly Keen and her partner James have two cats and live in a city where the animals don’t roam free 24 hours a day. Louie the cat has to make do with the house and garden from now on. Keen doesn’t think it’s great: “He felt like a lion in a cage just running up and down.”

Keen also supports the rules for cats in principle, but is just as convinced: “That’s just how they are. They’re cats, they just want to roam.” (First)