Andersons Creek Landcare

Submission, July 2020

INQUIRY INTO THE PROBLEM OF FERAL AND DOMESTIC CATS IN

Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy

Background

Andersons Creek Landcare, in the Manningham Council, is a volunteer environmental group. With over 10 years’ experience in managing one of Warrandyte’s main Green Wedge habitats it is a valued local community organisation. Warrandyte is a north eastern peri-urban environment with a mix of State Parks, large residential blocks and suburban housing, approximately 25 km from ’s CBD. It is located in one of Melbourne’s most important environmental areas, the Green Wedge, the corridor of bushland including the and its tributaries, one of which is Andersons Creek. This Landcare group has a membership of around 70 representing mainly local residents but including nature lovers and environment students from other parts of Melbourne.

Funding: Besides a small allowance from Landcare, we receive an annual grant from Melbourne Water towards weeding and planting along the Creek, which allows us to employ limited services from an expert environmental land management provider. Weekly weeding/planting activities are the main focus in our area of responsibility with the support of a small number of regular volunteers boosted by irregular corporate and community volunteer day numbers.

Addressing the particular Terms of Reference where we feel we can contribute to the Inquiry into the problem of Cats:

“No matter how well fed they are “they will go for any moving creature”. Adriana Simonds, Human Seeds,

a. The prevalence of feral and domestic cats in Australia

 Our Council has a large population of domestic cats in flats and houses coupled with a comparatively large amount of native bushland compared to other peri-urban areas. Hence the domestic cat containment issue is highly relevant to the protection of wildlife here.  Our most visible day to day problem is weed infestation, such as Vinca (also known as Periwinkle) an insidious, thickly growing matt of European plant pest which can harbour cats preying on wildlife as well as providing a home to European wasp nests. We work to reduce Vinca and replace it with indigenous shrubs and grasses. The Vinca problem is massive, throughout NSW and Victoria.  However, equally concerning is the ongoing reduction of sightings of wildlife. We recognise that wildlife deaths are a function of many environmental impacts, including increased traffic on the road abutting Andersons Creek (Gold Memorial Road), habitat destruction,

Contacts Online: Facebook.com/andersonscreeklandcare Email: [email protected] Post: Andersons Creek Landcare, PO Box 184, Park Orchards, Vic 3114

Andersons Creek Landcare

occasional pollution of the Creek, but we believe the largest contributor is the feral animal population growth, primarily cats, probably both feral and domestic. The cat is so perfectly designed to prey on so many of Australia’s unique wildlife. Cats are equipped with stealthy, natural hunting skills that allow it to hide and go largely unseen by our volunteer teams. By comparison, the Samba Deer pest is a growing concern with much evidence of mid-story plant destruction, habitat and ground destruction but it is easier to see and measure its impact. Regardless, volunteers report increasing sightings of cats.

b. The impact of feral and domestic cats including on native wildlife and habitats

 Lush native bushland (and various weeds) surround Andersons Creek in all stretches of its several kilometres length through Warrandyte with wildlife such as the lizard, echidna, birdlife, possum, wallaby, kangaroo, wombat, and other small marsupials known to use the Creek and the surrounding, less dense, Fourth Hill State Park woodland (part of ) for shelter, food, water and nesting.  Our State Parks are increasingly being encroached on by suburbia and approximately one third of these homes have cats, many of which are allowed by their owners to roam free, in complete disregard to regulations stating that cats are to be kept on the owner’s property.  A report (DELWP) to Andersons Creek Landcare stated that 211 million native animals die every year in Victoria due to cats - which are instinctively natural predators of wildlife (e.g. mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles). “No matter how well fed they are “they will go for any moving creature”. (Adriana Simonds, Human Seeds, speaker at Andersons Creek Landcare AGM 2017, Currawong Bush Park. Your statistics are undoubtedly more current and more alarming.

c. The effectiveness of current legislative and regulatory approaches

 Where we see any cat on Council Roadside land or Parks Vic land we use Landcare traps to apprehend and take them to the relevant authorities for collection by known owners where possible. The authorities follow up, usually as we understand with mild reprimand, as is evident in promotions on numerous Council websites.  A review of any Council website will show the very lenient approach taken to abuses of the law to keep domestic cats on one’s own property. Penalties are often not mentioned. Actions are suggested for building enclosures and fence toppers. Persuasion in the form of a ‘healthier and happier cat’ falls on deaf ears for those whose habit it is to allow cats to wander, whether in daytime or night. Similarly, although the Vic Zoos/RSPCA ‘Safe Cats’ project is to be applauded, unfortunately there are too many cat owners not listening to these messages.  Night time curfews recently adopted by some Melbourne Councils will not prevent the killing of wildlife. It is our experience to have seen, for example, cats in garden settings in daytime hovering at known blue tongue lizard safe spots (under verandahs, in water drains, in logs), cats lurking in rockeries and bushes favoured by small birds and stalking and pouncing on and killing individuals from groups of galahs feeding on grass seeds. We are therefore strongly of the view that a 24 hour cat curfew is needed, if we are to have an effective outcome.

Contacts Online: Facebook.com/andersonscreeklandcare Email: [email protected] Post: Andersons Creek Landcare, PO Box 184, Park Orchards, Vic 3114

Andersons Creek Landcare

h. The interaction between domestic cat ownership and the feral cat problem, and best practice approaches to the keeping of domestic cats in this regard.

 The current policy of relying on the goodwill of cat owners to keep their cats on their property does not work. Cats are abandoned, or run away, become feral, are left wild but fed by sympathetic cat lovers. They interbreed with feral cats and populations grow.  Best Practice: A 24 Hour Cat Curfew is well overdue, at least for the Green Wedge Councils. Regulation to keep cats inside residences and in caged runs, 24 hours a day is both a protection for cats and for wildlife. Yarra Ranges Council, Vic., has successfully introduced this law since 2014 with appropriate fines. Manningham Council can do similar in order to protect wildlife, support land owners who are investing in the creation of native habitats and protect the health of householder’s cats from predators, disease and accident.  Best Practice: Consideration should be given to adopting a national strategy and legislation for a 24 hour domestic cat curfew. Across the country if our Government seeks an eradication approach to feral cats a national strategy is the only viable approach. Additionally, if the strategy was to only contain feral cat numbers at a low, maintenance level over time, there is a strong risk of failure due to Government changes and budgetary priority shifts as time passes. A commitment to a strong campaign of eradication is needed to protect our precious and unique wildlife.

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this very important Inquiry. Please contact us for any further information.

Yours sincerely,

Robyn Gillespie, President, Andersons Creek Landcare

Contacts Online: Facebook.com/andersonscreeklandcare Email: [email protected] Post: Andersons Creek Landcare, PO Box 184, Park Orchards, Vic 3114