Background

The Victorian Government is developing their first long-term cat management strategy; this is great news!

Cats are one of the most damaging invasive species to Australia's natural biodiversity. By implementing a strategy, Victoria can help mobilise and coordinate action to improve cat control.

Roaming cats hunt and kill wildlife.

Actions that reduce the number of pet and feral cats that are out roaming helps protect our wildlife from predation and cat-borne disease. Some positive actions in the plan include providing education and support to increase the number of cat-owners that keep their cat at home 24/7.

A draft strategy is now open for comment. While establishing a plan is welcome news, the draft has a strong focus on pet cat management and downplays the impact feral cats have on the environment. The strategy needs more focus on proven actions that will effectively protect wildlife from both pet and feral cats, such as eradicating cats from islands.

Can you please give the Victorian Government feedback and ask them to take stronger action on feral cats?

Submissions are due by Friday the 26th of April, 2024.

We highlight six key points below for you to consider including in your submission. And to make it even easier, we've included step-by-step instructions below to help you write and upload your submission.

How to make a submission

1. Check out the draft strategy on the Victorian Government's website. It also includes background information and a short summary document.
2. Read our key points below and prepare your feedback in a word document. Don't forget to include some brief introductory remarks about yourself and why you care concerned about the impacts of cats.
3. Upload your feedback to the submission portal by the 26th of April. You'll need to scroll down the page until you find the 'upload a written submission' button. Alternatively, you can complete the Victorian Government's feedback survey.

Key points to include in your submission

In your submission, please ask the Victorian Government to:

1. Make environment protection a priority within the strategy

• Cats have had a devastating impact on Australia's biodiversity and continue to have major impacts. Feral cats have a driving factor in the extinction of at least 23 Australian mammal species and currently affect at least 231 nationally-threatened animal species.
• The draft strategy has a set of guiding principles which includes 'cat deserve caring owners' and 'empowering communities' but does not include a principle about 'protecting biodiversity'.
• The strategy should include 'protecting biodiversity' as a guiding principle, and reflect this throughout the document. For example, the vision should acknowledge the need to protect biodiversity from both feral and pet cats.

2. Prioritise actions that protect high conservation value areas from cats

• The strategy should include clear actions that have high conservation benefits.
• The current strategy is vague and doesn't mention actions which are known to benefit nature. For example, eradicating feral cats from islands can create enduring safe havens for threatened species.
• Actions in the strategy should include: introducing cat-free status in suburbs adjacent to natural areas with vulnerable wildlife and eradicating feral cats from sites of significant biodiversity such as islands, including French Island.

3. Enable the effective use of feral cat control tools

• There are currently barriers in Victoria that prevent the use of new and emerging technologies to control cats. For example, Felixers are a target-specific device that use a combination of cameras and artificial intelligence to detect feral cats, then spray them with a lethal toxin. Currently, Felixers can't be used in Victoria due to a blanket ban on the use of 1080 to control feral cats. Another toxin that could be used in Felixers is PAPP.
• The strategy should improve the availability of effective, target-specific tools, such as registering 1080 and PAPP to allow the use of Felixers in Victoria.

4. Set clear, measurable goals to track progress

• The strategy provides no clear targets.
• Without specific targets and monitoring of actions, it is impossible to assess whether the strategy is working and improving outcomes for pet cats, feral cat management, and wildlife in Victoria.
• The strategy should be rewritten to incorporate SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound) actions and targets.

5. Recognise the serious impacts of cat-borne diseases

• Cats are the key carrier of the diseases toxoplasmosis and sarcocystosis, which are caused by pathogens that are spread through cat faeces to many other animals. Pet and feral cats carry and spread these diseases, with pet cats that are allowed to roam more likely to acquire it than pet cats that are contained.
• Toxoplasmosis can have major impacts on human health, reduce livestock production, and cause high rates of mortality in wildlife. A recent study found that toxoplasmosis cost the Australian economy about $6 billion per year. Sarcocystosis causes abortion in sheep, with major costs to farmers.
• The strategy should explicitly recognise the impacts of cat-borne diseases and include recommendations for regulations and actions that aim to reduce such impacts.

6. Make a clear financial commitment to implementing the strategy.

• The success or failure of the strategy will depend upon the extent of its resourcing and implementation.
• The Victorian Government should identify the costs of the plan and commit the funds required to implement the strategy over ten years.