The definition of insanity

It didn’t work in the ACT. It didn’t work in the NT. In fact, experts (experts!) say it won’t work anywhere in Australia.

Fuck them, said WA. We’ll give compulsory cat registration a go!

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Cat owners in the city of Joondalup will have to sterilise and register their pets, plus prevent them from straying, under a law passed by the city council last night.

The maximum penalty for the owner of a cat found in a prohibited area is $1000.

Cat owners can also be fined $500 if their cat is found on private property and the owner makes a complaint to the city. City officers will be able to issue on-the-spot infringement notices for up to 10 per cent of the maximum fines.

“There is a cat problem out there. We have to euthanise around 7000 cats per year, so we’re delighted the City of Joondalup has taken this issue up,” she said.

Cat Haven operations manager Roz Robinson described the law as a “visionary leap” and called on other councils to adopt similar laws. ref

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Okay, okay, okay – lets roll with this for a moment. If we are going to have new legislation coming at the cost of taxpayers, then we must demand real measurable effect.

We must have a set of aims that we want a achieve – these obviously would be;

• less kittens born
• less cats euthanased
• and movement towards less cats in the environment.

Also,

• less complaints to council about cats
• and an increased rate of return of lost cats.

We must be given the opportunity to measure if these aims are being achieved. Then also, we must compare the benefit of these aims vs the cost of the implementation of the program.

Joondalup council must make their impound figures public. And the public must be able to see whether the aims of this new legislation are being met. Not just ‘anecdotal’ reports from cat rescuers, pushing their agenda to make all owners do what they feel they should, but real comparable figures over the next few years to see the results of the new laws.

Terrorising elderly people, setting animals up to be at the mercy of vengeful neighbours and retarding TNR programs are the immediate costs of this program. If we’re going to do what others have tried and failed at, then we sure as hell better have more success than them.