By Jenel Hunt
The Southern Downs Regional Council’s cat management strategy was simultaneously complimented and criticised at its Connecting with Community event in Ballandean on 11 October.
Granite Belt Sustainable Action Network’s convenor of its Community Engagement Team Geraldine Hollingsworth congratulated the council on its policy, which she described as very thorough with excellent information, but said although one of the goals was collaboration she couldn’t find any information on how the SDRC had collaborated with local groups on the issue.
“The council has excellent information about the horrendous statistics about the damage that feral cats and pet cats do to native wildlife – killing billions of mammals, extinction of some species – agricultural costs with regard to diseases and costs to humans. But I can’t find anything which shows collaboration with local groups like GBSAN and the Rare Wildflower Consortium,” she said.
GBSAN, in its website, has been critical of the council’s work in the area of cat management.
The website stated that many councils throughout Australia had adopted strategies such as registration, compulsory desexing, curfews and confinement to the owners’ properties as well as actions to try to reduce the number of feral cats, even prohibiting cat ownership in areas of high conservation significance.
GBSAN’s July newsletter said: “Despite receiving federal funding to develop a cat management strategy in 2020, the Southern Downs Regional Council has failed to endorse effective measures to deal with the problem. If it is serious about protecting our wildlife, the council needs to enact effective cat management strategies. At the very least, this should include compulsory registration and desexing and confinement to the owner’s property.”
Councillor Stephen Tancred commented on GBSAN’s published stance.
“Reading your website, you’ve said unfortunately our council has adopted none of these measures despite adverse impacts of cats on native wildlife,” he said.
“Something we do have is a desexing program that we subsidise, so we are doing something. We also co-operate with a group that comes from Brisbane and picks up cats that would otherwise be euthanised. I sort of take offence that you’re saying we do nothing.”
At the meeting, Geraldine suggested that a direction be taken that would see the council and interested groups working together ‘to maximise everybody’s efforts’. She also asked if the council had had discussions or made progress regarding the Federal Government’s draft plan on mandatory cat desexing and containment.
“And where do we find the information on how you’re going with your targets? I notice you have specific targets investigating the use of baits, maps for tracking, feral cat field management day,” she said.
CEO Dave Burges said: “Regarding the targets, we regularly report internally on the status of our strategies and make sure we don’t leave it on the shelf, and report to the executive management team and council on an annual basis. When we have that information it is available (to the public). We don’t have the resources to do everything you might like us to do, but we focus on our strategy. It’s not our role to drive it; we’re involved and we participate. We’re happy to work in where we can with the limited resources we have.”
Cr Cynthia McDonald suggested other possible avenues for the concerned group to explore included the Shaping Southern Downs Committee and the Granite Belt Alliance.
Cr Tancred said that the council’s latest cat strategy had been developed last year.
“To give you feedback on the cat strategy, we passed it in 2022 and it will be reviewed in 2026. When it was developed, I argued for the mandatory registration of cats but it didn’t result in the policy. So now I stand behind this policy. Hopefully in 2026 the council will consider making registration mandatory.”
Cr Cameron Gow, in his capacity as councillor sitting on the Pest Management Advisory Committee, said cats were not at the top of the list for groups such as the Granite Belt Growers Association and that feral pigs were their area of greatest concern.
“I’d say in the last few years the council has come ahead in leaps and bounds in relation to its cat strategy and the Federal Government’s draft is timely. A feral cat is a different beast to a domestic cat, but domestic cats have an impact too. I’m a little disappointed that the State backed down on registering cats, and I think that there’s enough pressure from the community that it should eventually happen.
“As far as feral cats are concerned, I see that as an area of concern for the pest management group to deal with.”
The subject of bounties was also brought up but it was commented that bounties were an emotive subject as sometimes ‘cats that belong to Johnnie down the road get taken’.
Cat traps can be hired from the front counter at the council’s Warwick and Stanthorpe offices.
