Your Roaming Cat Could Have a Kill Count: Here’s How You Can Prevent This

Internet culture often casts cats in a mischievous yet adorably infallible field of view, perhaps so much so that some owners are blissfully unaware of how the predatory nature of their house pet is drastically impacting Aussie backyards.

Not unlike the introduction of cane toads, rabbits and other invasive species, roaming cats are having lasting impacts on the environment.

It is estimated up to 1.5 billion native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs are killed by cats each year, according to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).

Predation by feral cats (cats with no formal owners) is particularly listed as a key threatening process to biodiversity. Free roamers (cats with owners who let them roam) have only about a quarter of the kill count as their undomesticated counterparts; however, their high-density populations in urban areas mean they are killing at a more frequent rate.

The crisis is becoming so severe a national action plan was implemented by the Federal Government last year. You can read more about this in our coverage here.

Lane Cove Council’s 2020 Fauna Study showed the suburb is home to 134 vertebrae species, many of which are hunted.

Though Council claim feral cats are not an issue, rather the problem lies with free-roaming cats, or more so, owners allowing their cats to do so.

However, this view isn’t shared by everybody.

“We wouldn’t be getting strays brought to us if there were no unowned cats,” Advanced Vet Care Lane Cove Operation Manager, Nat Panzarino told ITC.

“Unfortunately, it’s kind of a growing problem. I think there’s a number of factors at play,” Nat said.

“It’s obviously a cost of living situation for a lot of people, it’s becoming untenable to have pets. There is also an issue with people who don’t feel that their cat should be kept indoors and allowing undesexed cats to roam the neighbourhood.”

So, What Needs To Be Done?

Education around the responsibility of pet ownership communicated to owners is the most efficient first step, action by the owner will be the most effective.

“Ultimately, the responsibility for pet ownership lies with the owner, the person that obtains a pet in the first place,” As Nat plainly puts it.

“A lot of people think, oh, my cat doesn’t do that. My cat doesn’t chase and catch and kill but most of them actually do. They just don’t necessarily bring it home. So it is really important to consider the native wildlife.”

Although there are local and federal government initiatives (which we will delve into later in the article) surrounding the prevention and control of this crisis, Lane Cove’s biggest issue with cats are owners allowing them to roam around the suburb.

There are multiple Wildlife Protection Areas (WPA) in Lane Cove where cats and off-leash dogs are prohibited from entering. There are no figures which show the amount of wildlife impacted by strays, but Council said they have photographic evidence of cats in bushland, while 28 residents have reported actively seeing the same.

Non-de sexed free roamers are also problematic due to their high fertility rate, possessing the ability to have multiple litters a year. With average litters being up to eight kittens a cat populations can multiply exponentially in very little time.

This high number can not only impact the surrounding environment, but also endangers abandoned kittens and creates a burden for vets needing to house them.

“In kitten season, which is sort of typically the end of spring and the start of summer, I think there was one time where we had a different stray kitten brought into us every single day in a week, which is wild. It’s very hard to find homes for that number of kittens,” Nat continued.

“At the moment, all of the major charities and rehoming groups are actually closing their books to cats because there are too many… we take it upon ourselves to try and re-home them. But it’s definitely not an ideal set of circumstances, and it’s not a practice that we engage in here, but there certainly are some vet clinics that find themselves in a position where they have to euthanise the animals.”

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The rate of strays are so bad, employees at the vet take it upon themselves to house cats and kittens themselves out-of-pocket for durations at a time.

So, what can you do to be an upstanding pet owner? We’re glad you asked.

• Microchip your cat and register it into your name. This is a legal requirement, but also allows cats to be returned to their owners.
• Desex your cat. This prevents mass litters of kittens being born without a home. Advanced Vet Care Lane Cove is offering $100 off this service this month.
• Use certain devices to deter cat hunting efforts. A simple bell on their collar won’t prevent them from hunting but it can give local wildlife a heads up!
• Keep your cat indoors. Particularly from dusk till dawn when nocturnal hunting habits are peaked.

To some, it may seem like an unreasonable ask to keep cats inside, however, it is achievable and not only safer for the environment but also for pets.

“Creating an environment that is enriching for your cat inside your home is absolutely possible,” Nat said.

“You can build cat patios that are an extension to your balcony area, or, perhaps just outside your door, outside of a window, or even a completely separate structure where you can provide your cat with some outdoor time, but make sure that, firstly, they’re safe… Some people also do leash train their cats. It’s not that common, but it certainly can be done.”

Free-roamers are not only bad for the environment, but can be a danger to themselves. Outdoor cats are far more susceptible to getting hit by cars, catching diseases and becoming severely injured in street fights with other territorial felines.

A cat kept at home will live on average ten years longer than a cat who is allowed to roam, as stated by RSPCA NSW.

What Are Authorities Doing?

The Federal Government has rolled out their threat abatement plan for predation by feral cats 2024 which has been formally adopted across states and territories.

In a nutshell, the plan aims to reduce feral cat numbers, take precautionary measures on pet cats and launch public awareness campaigns on how cats impact the environment. Although State Governments are not forced to adopt rules in the plan, they are required to work with the federal government to reduce cats’ devastating effects on native wildlife.

This could mean implementing introduced legislation such as cat registration, identification, desexing and household caps.

Lane Cove Council has no legal obligation to pound stray cats. Many local Council’s have reported resource and funding issues when having to manage mass amounts of feral cats.

Legally seized companion animals must be sheltered for 14 days, but there is no duty under the NSW Companion Animals Act 1998 to run general stray-cat shelters or curfew systems like there are with dogs – Though, alternative solutions are being explored.

The Act declares all bushlands as WPAs. Lane Cove Council passed a resolution to adopt this in February 2024 as well as enforce rules and education programs associated with WPA.

Since then, Council have rolled out these programs in numerous instances and have partnered with businesses and organisations, like Pet-O and the RSPCA to promote safe indoor cat practices and enclosures.

The declaration also gives councils the ability to remove stray cats found in WPA. However, under the policy, it has agreed not to trap and capture cats until a formal process of returning cats to owners and the exclusive use of No Kill Shelters has been made. This is still in the works.

If you’d like more information on what needs to be done to prevent predation of wildlife from cats locally, you can read about it here.

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