Australia’s feral cat population has reached 6 million and each year they kill thousands of native animals from 124 seperate species.
The federal government aims to stop the extinction of protected fauna by culling 2 million feral cats up until 2020.
These are good and bad times for kitties. While Australia is at war with feral felines, two cat wineries are battling it out for the title of who invented the pet bevvy first.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews said “we are not culling cats for the sake of it, we are not doing so because we hate cats” but “they are the single biggest threat to our native animals, and have already directly driven out of extinction 20 out of 30 mammals lost.”
Cats are one of the biggest threats to native wildlife, and will kill anything from small lizards to mammals larger than themselves. According to SMH, one cat was found weighing 6.8 kilograms with a 5 kilogram rock-wallaby in its stomach.
Five species under threat include the numbat, central rock-rat, night parrot, mountain pygmy possum and the eastern barred bandicoot.
Communities are being encouraged to kill them in the most humane and safe way possible, and Mr Andrews is hoping local councils will provide free euthanasia.
Although the plan excludes domestic cats, five islands including Christmas Island and Kangaroo Island will try to eliminate all cats completely. Owners who currently have cats as pets will be the last.
Mr Andrews acknowledged the Canberra Indian Myna Group, a community who were able to increase numbers of native birds by spotting, trapping and killing the myna birds, usually with carbon monoxide.
The SMH reports alternative ways to eradicate feral cats include “baits,” “guardian dogs,” “Indigenous hunters, professional trappers and shooters,” “training prey to avoid feral cats” and “stopping repeat killers by using injectible ‘trojan’ toxins.”
On a more purrsitive note, ‘alcohol’ for cats has been invented.
Goodfood reported, “since alcohol can harm cats, these products are essentially catnip water, which can make a cat loopy and an owner happy.”
And you thought they were addicted to cardboard boxes!
The creator of Apollo Peak, Brandon Zavala, first created a “snack beverage” for cats which he then relabeled “cat wine.” From The Doggy Mary to the Meowtini, Zavala’s products became very popular very quickly, and in 2016 he sold $500,000 worth of pet wines.
Now, Apollo Peak has heavy competition from Pet Winery who offer very similar products.
In a very troubling time for fiendish felines, maybe the Australian government and the creators of pet wine can come to a suitable solution.
Check out 15 times cats were jerks and screwed with your head instead of using their cat presents.
