As much as we love them, one family pet above all others can wreak havoc on Australian native wildlife.
When I first met Violet, she was a tiny runt of a thing, so small she could fit in the palm of my hand. Lost, terrified and roaming the streets, she was a dumped Christmas present, the vet said before adding the words that are like kryptonite to any animal lover: without a microchip or anyone to claim her, she’d have to be put down.
The federal government is considering introducing new measures to curb the impact feral and domestic cats are having on native animals.The regularity with which she got stuck on the roof was deeply annoying for my housemates who had to climb up and rescue her, and her propensity to urinate in the overnight bag of my boyfriend every time he stayed over managed to literally piss him off to the point that he dumped me and I found myself at risk of becoming a clichéd single cat lady.
Then came the day when, about to head to a uni lecture, I opened the laundry door to find Violet beaming with pride, covered in muck and presenting us with what she thought was the ultimate gift: a dead possum. Mice were one thing, we reasoned when debating what to do, but a possum was another ball game.
“They [cats] are one of the main reasons Australia is the mammal extinction capital of the world,” Plibersek said, while also noting cats “were the primary cause of Australia’s two latest extinctions.”According to research within the government’s paper, feral cats kill an average of 1.
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