February 25, 2009Comments are closed.cats
From the West Australian today;
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Joondalup Cat Law Vindictive
The City of Joondalup has done no research, has no statistics and has ignored cat laws outside WA.
Compared to Darwin’s enlightened cat law, Joondalup is poorly framed, and vindictive.
It is opposed by the city’s own officers, the rangers and the Australian Veterinary Association.
Most written submissions opposed the law and the council was sharply divided. Compulsory sterilisation has failed in Canberra, where after five years more cats than ever are being put down.
In the US, it has also failed and many states are now repealing their cat laws.
The Joondalup cat owner register will be open to the public and cats will be effectively confined for their entire lives.
Cruelty to cats will increase, as cat haters feel emboldened be the law, and trivial cat complaints will spark neighbourhood confrontation.
With the threat of fines, many owners will not even identify their cat, let alone register (cat registration is typically around 24 per cent).
This cat law will be counter productive, and many owners will simply ignore it, or dump their cats and add to the stray cat population.
A more sensible approach would include subsidised voluntary sterilisation, a strong education program, pet shops to only sell sterilised cats and a cooling off period for pet shop sales.
Charles Page – Iluka
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A quick google on this chappy reveals he was a thorn in the side of Joondalup Council back when laws that made no sense were being debated by Councillors that made no sense. From the Joondalup Public Question Time at the Council meeting on 28 October 2008;
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Mr Charles Page: Iluka:
Q1 With regard to the draft Cats Local Law, does the City realise that without any research or statistics on the cat population, sterilisation rates etc., it has no base line to gauge the requirement for a cat law, no base line to gauge the outcome of that law and no base line for future review?
A1 The City consulted with the community to gain its views on the proposed Local Law.
Q2 Does the City realise that the community consultation on the draft Cat Law is not a substitute for research which would normally be undertaken in accordance with good governance procedures?
A2 Policies and legislation are often based on a mix of evidence and belief. Evidence can be gained in a variety of ways.
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We must find this man and make him our new king.
The Joondalup laws are a perfect example of what happens when coercive utopians hold the ground with emotive argument and fraudulent statistics against a divided and disparate population that cannot, or will not, get its act together.
It is an odds on certainty that other municipalities will be pressured by the animal activists to follow the ‘progressive’ laws introduced by Joondalup. It is also certain that these laws will be used by small minded individuals, who have been convinced that cats are nature-destroying breeding machines, to harass cat owners.
This is an abominable law; all laws have unintended consequences with this one shaping up to establish new records. The stupidity of it all is that it has been introduced without any research at all. Who are the main drivers behind this law?