Australia passes a 24-hour curfew on all cats - what do you think?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/18/are-you-in-favour-of-a-cat-curfew-open-thread

Personally, I do not think that cats should be allowed to roam throughout the night time. 24 hours seems a bit steep to me, but I do think that people should take their cats in at night.

The trouble is that a lot of the people arguing for the cats switch their arguments all the time. When confronted about cats roaming everywhere, while dogs aren't allowed to, they argue that cats aren't fully domesticated and need to be able to roam. However, when somebody mentions that perhaps a non-domesticated animal shouldn't be kept as a pet, in that case, they change and say that cats are domesticated.

Oh dear, cats. I do like cats, and have on occasion wanted one for myself as the right cat, when at home, can be a great comfort and joy to its "owner".

However, there's no getting away from the fact that they are by nature roamers and hunters, and have by nature of this fact been allowed to roam and hunt where they will.

In regard to this particular place in Australia, if cats have been killing lyre birds and these birds are endangered, then I do think it right that the lyre birds be protected by a curfew on cats, and any cat owners or prospective cat owners in the area should be well aware of what their responsibilities are.

I'm not sure that a 24 hour curfew is workable, but that remains to be seen.

I do think, though, that cats should be kept indoors at night - which is when most of the carnage takes place.

A curfew, however, id preferable to what has been going on already - ie placing milk or cat food laced with paracetamol out for cats at night. Paracetamol is lethal to cats.

I don't agree with poisoning them. They're pets, not pests. Do I think they should be left to roam at night? No. Do I think they should be neutered to avoid fighting, roaming and breeding? Yes. Do I think they should be killed? Absolutely not.

Well firstly it will never work, there are yard cats that frankly are not pets, but are still looked after and "owned." They need to mooch about to kill the rodents, and can't rightly do that if they are locked in a shed for their lives, which would not be very humane for them either. Dogs get out for walks, but house cats don't, and most would not walk on a leash. Dogs and cats need to get out and about to be happy!

Tbh, pet cats can be habituated from an early age to walking on a leash. Farm cats, of course, are a different matter.

Something that does annoy me is an owner who doesn't provide for their cat, aside from unlocking a cat flap and opening a food can daily. Cats are far less likely to roam for long distances if they have an appropriate habitat at home - high spaces for cats who prefer to climb, for instance. If a cat can't get what it innately needs to perform behaviour, of course it will go elsewhere to get it. The trouble is, a lot of cat owners (same as a lot of dog owners, or any other pet for that matter) just can't be bothered with any more hassle.

Yeah agree. My cats are as i'm sure you know, yard cats. They are there for a job, first and foremost. Not because i wanted a cat. But they are chipped, neutered, wormed, vet if needed and have beds and have in fact a whole stable for them, they have hay bales for sleeping and burrowing and climbing and they climb in and out of the stable.

See, that's something I have absolutely no problem with. Animals have been used for working alongside humans for centuries. In my opinion, pets, however, should be kept as such and not switched from pet to 'wild animal' at the owner's pleasure.