Australia has announced a move that will terrify
feline fans.
The country has declared war on cats and is aiming
to cull up to two million of them by 2020.
Pet owners, breathe easy. The
measure applies to feral cats.
There's a reason behind the move.
As cats have few natural enemies in Australia, the
predators have decimated many of the country's small native
wildlife species — to the point where some
are facing extinction.
The country's first threatened species commissioner Gregory Andrews
said:
"(Australian
Environment Minister Greg Hunt) is
declaring war on feral cats, and he's asked me to take charge of
that programme.
"By 2020, I want to see two million feral cats culled, five new
islands and 10 new mainland 'safe havens' free of feral cats, and
control measures applied across 10 million hectares.
"We are drawing a line in the sand today which says, 'On our watch,
in our time, no more species extinction.'"
Humanely and effectively
The government plans to employ poisoned baits and guns to
effect the cull.
It has pledged to go about the latest initiative in a "humane
and effective" manner.
According to website i100,Australia's 20 million
cats kill an estimated 75 million native critters a day.
That's a lot of death by kitty cat.
Mr Andrews said:
Spotlight
Despite Mr Andrews' reassurances, the cull is the latest in a
series of pet-related brouhaha Down Under.
In May, US actor Johnny Depp was embroiled
in a row with the Australian government after he allegedly
bypassed bio-security protocols to sneak in his pet dogs Pistol and
Boo while shooting Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No
Tales.
Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce reportedly said then:
Australian authorities have since charged Depp's actress wife Amber
Heard with two counts of illegal import of animals and
knowingly producing a false or misleading document.
Heard has been summoned to appear in a Queensland court on Sept
7.
Sources: i100, Daily
Telegraph, CNN
TNP