Calls grow for cat curfews in NSW amid fears felines could spread flu

There are renewed calls for NSW to introduce cat curfews* amid fears roaming felines could spread bird flu.*

NSW is the last mainland state not to give councils the explicit* power to mandate* owners keep cats inside despite a concerted push by councils, conservation groups and veterinary organisations.

Dubbo Mayor Josh Black said cat containment laws would save council money by reducing breeding and the number of strays in shelters as well as saving animals killed by cats.

“I’d rather see native animals in the environment around the town than a whole stack of cats just killing millions of native animals per year,” he said.

“The fact is, a cat kept safely at home lives a longer, happier, healthier life than a cat that’s allowed to roam, by up to 10 years.”

Mr Black said local government minister Ron Hoenig needed to change current laws to give councils the power to introduce cat containment* measures.

“Given the impact on the council’s bottom line* of animal shelters overflowing with cats, I think it’d be a good move for the minister (Hoenig) to allow councils to change the law so that councils themselves can bring in cat containment,” he said.

“The minister (Hoenig) doesn’t need to be the one to mandate it. He just needs to let local councils be able to mandate it in their local government area.”

Minister Hoenig said he was aware of proposed cat containment laws and said the state government was currently reviewing the Companion Animals Act,* including whether councils should have greater powers to mandate cats stay indoors.

“Any new containment power would need to be practical, enforceable and supported by evidence, and its effects on councils, animal welfare, pounds and pet owners would need to be properly understood,” he said.

“The parliamentary inquiry found that New South Wales may not yet be ready for mandatory containment laws and identified potential enforcement and equity* concerns.”

Mr Hoenig said the government was committed to evaluating whether flexible and locally applied containment rules were needed as of a broader legislative review.

Invasive Species Council chief executive officer Jack Gough said it seemed the NSW government were delaying a process of reform on cat containment.

“I am concerned that they’re looking to push that (cat containment) off beyond the election, rather than standing up for wildlife, making sure that people’s cats are kept safe and happy at home, and backing in all the local governments around the state that want the powers to do something about this menace for wildlife,” he said.

Veterinarian Tania Bishop said cats and other predators* could become infected with bird flu and there was the potential they could indirectly spread the influenza.

“With H5 bird flu now at our doorstep, there is also a risk cats could become infected by scavenging* or coming into contact with sick or dead birds,” she said.

“Internationally we’ve seen pet cats become infected with H5 bird flu after hunting or scavenging infected wild birds. While the risk in Australia is currently low, this is exactly the kind of sensible precaution responsible owners can take.”

The H5N1 virus has been detected in at least 17 wild birds across Australia, including two confirmed detections in NSW, five in South Australia and 10 in WA. Queensland authorities on Friday were investigating a possible case of bird flu in a bird that washed up on Moreton Island.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• curfew: a rule that everyone must stay at home between particular times, usually at night
• bird flu: an illness that kills birds and can sometimes pass from birds to people
• explicit: something that is clear and exact
• mandate: an official order or a clear command
• containment: the act of keeping something harmful under control and stopping it from spreading, such as a disease
• bottom line: the net profit or loss on a financial statement
• Companion Animals Act: the 1998 New South Wales law that regulates the care, management, identification, and registration of dogs and cats to promote responsible pet ownership
• equity: fairness or justice in the way people are treated
• predators: an animal that hunts, kills, and eats other animals
• scavenging: to look for or get food or other objects in other people’s rubbish

EXTRA READING

What’s going on with eggs and why Australia has empty shelves

Birds washing up along Australia’s east coast spark avian flu concerns

Endangered Australian animals to be protected by world’s longest cat-proof fence

QUICK QUIZ

1. What is bird flu and how many cases have been discovered in Australia?
2. Which groups are asking the NSW government to introduce cat containment measures?
3. Why do these groups want cats to be contained, or to have a cat curfew?
4. Which piece of government legislature would need to be reviewed in order to bring in cat containment measures?
5. How would cat containment measures help councils, according to Dubbo Mayor Josh Black?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Curfew pros and cons
Prepare a list of arguments for and against cat curfews as stated in the article.

Note which arguments are supported by factual evidence.

FOR CAT CURFEWS                                                                                                              AGAINST CAT CURFEWS

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
What is H5N1 bird flu and how is it spread?

Why is Australia’s risk considered currently low?

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Reporter challenge
Time: 10 minutes
Goal: Rewrite a key takeaway from the article using upgraded VCOP elements.

Give students this “Boring Base Sentence” about the article:

“Cats eat birds and spread sickness, so NSW wants them kept inside.”

Their task is to transform this boring sentence into a VCOP Power Sentence by following these four rules:

V (Vocabulary): Swap out basic words (eat, sickness, kept inside) for high-level words from the text or a thesaurus (scavenge/prey on, avian flu/virus, containment/curfews).

C (Connective): Use an advanced connective to link the cause and effect (despite, moreover, consequently, due to).

O (Opener): Start the sentence with an -ly adverb (e.g., Alarmingly …), an -ing verb (e.g., Roaming freely …), or a time/place phrase (e.g., Across Australia …).

P (Punctuation): Include at least two types of punctuation (e.g., a comma after an opener, speech marks for a quoted word, or a dash).