2 comments to “Did cat laws defeat kitten season in WA?”

  1. kenny quinn | October 10, 2014 | Permalink

    Typical government knee-jerk reaction. They aim to target full and entire and stray cats and put the burden on everyone. The people who normally do the right thing continue to do so and the ones that are irresponsible owners continue to do nothing and if the heat gets to close they dump the animal. In addition the laws have contributed to the problem by imposing fees that are unrealistic and target responsible breeders.
    The best thing to do with strays would be to trap and de-sex and return to where they were picked up. This way they would not be a burden on cat haven and rescue groups and would continue to survive as they had done before capture. Undoubtedly some of these cats will help in controlling the rodent population as well.

  2. Linda H | October 11, 2014 | Permalink

    Something needed to be done to try and reduce the terrible numbers of cats that end up in shelters and it may take some time for the real impact to be seen in terms of Euthanasia rates. However, the real and immediate impact has been amongst those registered breeders who follow ethical standards and a code of conduct to breed small numbers of pedigree cats. While some rescue groups may be saying “hooray, all breeders are bad”, there are decent, ethical people who are seeing their hobbies being destroyed for no good reason. These are not the people who are responsible for the cats who end up in shelters. There are plenty of statistics out there to show that pedigree cats are very much the minority when it comes to dumped cats. In a few years time, those kitten buyers who have their heart set on a Burmese, a Siamese or a Ragdoll may find that their choice is limited. Meanwhile, Pet Shops continue to be allowed to bring in “purebred” cats with dubious backgrounds to sell at ridiculous prices!