Humor
Cat Lovers Blast Plan To Do Away With Cats

CANBERRA, Australia - A lawmaker's call to wipe out all cats in Australia because they prey on wildlife raised howls of protest Friday from animal rights groups and the country's pet lovers.

Richard Evans wants Australia feline-free by 2020 and called this week for unleashing a fatal virus on wild cats that roam the Outback killing birds, native marsupials and other animals.

He also called for a law requiring pet cats to be neutered so they can't breed and eventually die out. Until then, a cat registry and cat curfews should be put in place.

"I am calling for the total eradication of cats in Australia," Evans told Parliament, adding that while cats may be playful and affectionate around their owners, they are killing machines when out on the prowl in suburbia. Evans blamed cats for the extinction of at least nine native species.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals agreed Friday that cats should be controlled, but called total eradication "outrageous and unnecessary.

Nancy Iredale of the Cat Protection Society called Evans' proposals laughable.

"I find it very hard to believe anybody would take him seriously. He'd have to fight us all the way," she said. "Cats give so much pleasure to people.

But some wildlife experts backed Evans' plan.

"I strongly support it," said Andrew Leys, of the New South Wales National parks and Wildlife Service. "But I can never see it happening. The solution is to manage the population rather than eradicate it."

Cats were introduced to Australia 200 years ago by European settlers, and about 18 million cats now live there - nearly equal to the human population. About one-third of Australian households own one or more cats, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said.

Australia has suffered major environmental problems from animals introduced by Europeans. Government scientists recently released a virus designed to kill wild rabbits on ranches and farms.

By The Associated Press
10/18/96

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Updated 21 May 1997