Perth council will ban cats from going outside with $5000 fines

The war against the domestic cat goes on in Australia this time from the City of South Perth. They are introducing a law (City of South Perth's Cats Local Law 2024) which will see that all cats are banned from 27 areas within South Perth including bushland, lake areas, a golf course and parks. And if cat owners are non-compliant and break the law they might end up with a AU$5000 fine.

City of South Perth's Cats Local Law 2024 will see cats banned from 27 areas, including parks, bushland, lakes and even a golf course. Image: MikeB

You are probably aware of the gradual erosion of feline freedoms on the Australian continent. Bit by bit the classic indoor/outdoor cat is being confined to the home and it's not being done voluntarily by cat owners but under the law of various jurisdictions.

As mentioned a fine could be as much as AU$5000 but that might be topped up with AU$500 per day fine for ongoing offences. It's a kind of war as I say. They are not pulling their punches this council.

Other Western Australia councils such as Canning, Kalamunda, Fremantle and Bassendean have already introduced cat-prohibited areas.

There was an attempt, as I understand it, to ban domestic cats from all public areas but that was rejected by the Western Australia Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation. South Perth can't go that far but they will introduce some pretty heavy restrictions.

The areas where they are banned are known areas of concern for the committee. The City of Bayswater also in Perth is also to release its proposed Keeping and Control of Cats Amendment Local Law 2024 for public comment. This law will also ban cats from public areas. In other words, domestic cats cannot go outside in certain public areas unless, I presume, under supervision. That would mean on a lead. Although that point needs to be clarified.

What might happen, in the not too distant future, is that a nationwide ban might be imposed on cat owners because if councils and other jurisdictions are imposing these bans piecemeal across Australia it might be more effective to create a nationwide law, an umbrella law which does the job in one go.

You may know that ACT already imposes such a ban. They are the leading jurisdiction in the world to ban outdoor cats.

An important point here is that the Australian citizens agree with these bans. I would argue that they have been indoctrinated into believing that these bans are necessary. It's taken years of gradual indoctrination through many scientific studies and many articles which have always stated that outdoor domestic cats and feral cats kill billions of native species in Australia.

The love of the domestic cat is being eroded and has been substantially eroded by years of bad publicity. A survey published by the Biodiversity Council in March this year found that just one in 12 people or 8% of the Australian population opposed these outdoor cat bans.

It is only a question of time before the whole of the Australian continent has no indoor/outdoor cats. All of them will be confined to the living room!

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Animal advocate angry at clickbait articles about dogs killing people

Nathan Winograd is a very high-profile American animal advocate specialising in animal shelters and saving lives. He's written a letter, officially from his No Kill Advocacy Center. In it he criticises an article on USA Today, the title to which is click bait: "Dogs are mauling and killing more people. What to do pits neighbor against neighbor". Note: see the bottom of the page about police officers killing dogs! That's probably the real story.

It's not even written that well to be honest. Anyway that's not relevant.

The gist of Nathan Winograd's letter is that there are no statistics which support the view that dog bites are increasing in the USA and certainly there is no evidence that the rate of dog bites are increasing in the USA.

Clearly, there are more dogs in the USA than there were in the past because there are more American citizens adopting dogs and cats. But the proportion between the number of dogs biting people or killing people compared to the number of citizens in America has probably dropped. This is the rate of dog bites and dog killings.

As an extract from his letter:

Moreover, the salient question is whether dog bite rates have increased. And in cases where numbers are available, the trend appears to be in the opposite direction. For example, the author writes that “Emergency room visits due to dog bites decreased from almost 363,000 in 2012 to 317,000 in 2021,” according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), despite millions more dogs in the U.S.

Nathan Winograd says that "While it appears the number of fatal dog attacks has increased, they remain under 100." I asked Google Gemini (Google's artificial intelligence computer) for information on the number of people killed by dogs annually in the US. This is its answer:

The number of people in the US killed by dogs annually falls within a range of  30 to 50 according to the National Library of Medicine [US dog bite fatalities statistics]. 

There are no figures on cats killing people because its just so rare. And anyway cats can't kill people directly. It has to be indirectly such as through a rabies bite which are infinitesimally rare despite more click bait on this topic. The news media likes to exaggerate in order to attract attention.

Nathan Winograd interestingly makes a comparison between people killed by forklift trucks and those killed by dogs. It's a similar amount. Perhaps more are killed by forklift trucks because Google Gemini tells us that "Estimates suggest that around 75 to 100 workers in the United States are killed by forklift accidents annually with an average closer to 87 deaths per year".

This is more than people killed by dogs which puts things into perspective because 99% of the American population do not interact with forklifts! Most Americans come into contact regularly with dogs.

Winograd finishes with this quote:

While fatal dog attacks are tragic, the CDC notes that they remain “rare,” involving roughly 0.0001% of the dog population. Moreover, “Experts say the number of annual fatalities from a dog bite is small enough that measuring year-to-year trends becomes difficult.”

The point that he makes is that if news media use click bait to attract readers about dogs killing people they inadvertently threaten the lives of dogs. It can colour the opinion of people against dogs. They can make people fearful of dogs. This can lead to people using force against dogs unnecessarily which can lead to the death of some dogs.

On that last topic by the way I've seen too many stories about American policeman shooting dogs for no good reason. Many of them seem to be fearful of dogs and they are just too keen to shoot them. On one occasion, a Labrador raced up to a policeman for a cuddle and the police officer shot the dog. Can you believe that? Complete idiocy.

RELATED: Protest after police agitate two dogs and then shoot them dead.

How many dogs are shot by police officers in the US annually?

Unfortunately, there isn't a definitive answer to the exact number of dogs shot by police officers in the US annually. Here's what we know:

• Estimates suggest it's around 10,000 dogs per year, based on a Department of Justice official's report [trace.tennessee.edu].
• This number might be even higher, with some suggesting it could reach six figures [scholars.unh.edu].

There are a couple of reasons why there's no precise data:

• Lack of mandatory reporting: There's no federal legislation requiring law enforcement agencies to record or report animal deaths during interventions.
• Inconsistent record-keeping: Even if departments track these incidents, there might not be a standardized method, making it difficult to compile national data.

If you're interested in learning more about this issue, you can search for terms like "police shootings of dogs" or "canine fatalities by police."

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Presence of child can cause cat scratching episodes

Image: MikeB

This is a cross-post. I have used the same image in the other post. It is an important topic in the world of cat caregiving. It is ultimately about parenting and knowledge. 

Below is a summary of a Harvard study (link to the study) which looked at factors which might lead to increased cat scratching, usual or furniture of a well-sited scratching post. It found that the presence of children can increase scratching behaviour because cats do this to mark territory to reassure themselves when they are stressed...by kids being noisy or unpredictable in their behaviour (my comment). Or perhaps the children were mishandling the cats in this questionnaire study which are always somewhat subjective. 

Cats mark territory when scratching by (1) a visual mark and (2) depositing scent from the paw pads onto the scratched object.

But despite the weaknesses in the study it confirms perhaps what we know namely that children can cause cats to become more stressed. It is up to parents to educate their kids to understand cat behaviour and how to interact with them to avoid this unnecessary stress.

Aside from stress leading to scratching, mismanaged interactions between cats and kids can lead to the kids receiving a scratch which in turn can, over time, lead to the cat being give up to a shelter for 'bad behaviour' when in fact it is the 'bad' (better described is 'inappropriate') behaviour of the child in their interactions with the family cat causing the cat to become defensively aggressive.

How many cat scratching posts do you need in a multi-cat home?

Here is a synopsis of the conclusion of the study, re-written. The undoubted lesson is that parents need to be aware of these issues and take proactive steps to prevent them. 

Cats like quiet and calm. Routine and predictability. Children can alter their behaviour a little to try and meet these feline objectives. Big scratching posts are important too. 

Infographic on cat scratching post designs.

A significant observation is how a child's presence at home can lead to more scratching in pets. It seems that kids might stress out our furry friends, causing them to scratch more often and more intensely. This ties in with earlier studies that found kids can increase the chances of pets scratching at home. 

On the flip side, it's important to note that having kids around is a common reason why pets are given up or returned after adoption. 

While most research focuses on how pets affect human health and happiness, it's just as important to consider our pets' well-being to keep everyone, both two-legged and four-legged, living together happily. Something not looked into in this study is how kids and cats interact. 

The study didn't check if the cat was there before the child or how old the kids were when they played with the cat. So, we need more research to see if a cat's behaviour changes with the arrival of a new child or if it's just about having kids around in general. 

Plus, it'd be interesting to see if how old the kids are makes a difference in how much the cat scratches.

Study title: Evaluating undesired scratching in domestic cats: a multifactorial approach to understand risk factors. Lead author: Yasemin Salgirli Demirbas.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Ozempic (weight loss drug) for pets and humans might cause blindness

Just four days ago I cautioned that there was an over-zealous approach to monetising Ozempic and Wegovy (same drug, different name) as a weight loss drug. The big Pharma companies want to monetize these drugs bigtime and they can see a lot of money in the obese cat and dog market for these products.

Ozempic is not a wonder drug for losing weight in people and cats as touted. Image: MikeB

These drugs have proved effective in suppressing appetite in people causing weight loss so why not do the same with cats and dogs?

Well, here is one reason: today's article in The Times newspaper "Blindness fears over weight drug Ozempic".

The Times refers to a new study which concluded that the drug may cause people to go blind. 

The Harvard researchers found that people taking semaglutide (Ozempic by a different name) were, in the words of the Times journalist, "significantly more likely to develop a rare and irreversible eye condition."

That I condition is called non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy, which results in sudden blindness in one eye. Usually it doesn't cause pain or discomfort and patients only notice one ey blindness on waking up. Shocking.

Ozempic was originally created to treat diabetic patients because it reduces weight and excessive weight can cause Type II diabetes. It is these patients who were found to be four times more likely to be diagnosed with this eye condition. People given the drug for obesity were seven times more likely to develop vision loss.

The study is published in JAMA Ophthalmology. It is the first study to identify that eye problems could be a side-effect of this popular new drug which is being rolled out in the NHS in the UK. Not any more I suspect.

I don't think that I need to go on. Researchers have found a very severe and side-effect to this wonder drug which has been touted as a massive solution to widespread obesity in people and cats in the UK and America. It isn't.

In an earlier post I said that humankind was emotionally lost if they have to rely on Ozempic to lose weight. The way to lose weight is to eat less. To rely on a drug is to go down a bad route because all drugs are poisons. A drug is worthwhile if the benefits outweigh the negatives. But there are always negatives, it just depends how bad they are.

This finding will put a huge dent in the monetisation of Ozempic and Wegovy and the good thing too because it might drive people to losing weight the natural way and in doing so they will probably feed their cats less as well because domestic cat obesity is the result of overfeeding and a lack of exercise. The two are always linked.

And I have always argued that if a cat caregiver is overweight they are likely to normalise being overweight and lose sight of an ideal weight resulting in not being able to assess their cat's weight accurately.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Beware Green Tripe dog treats. Possible metal contamination.

Image: FDA.

American's FDA (Food And Drug Administration) says that more than 3,500 bags of dog treats have been recalled because of the possibility of metal contamination. These are Green Tripe dog treats produced by a Richmond, Virginia, based business. 

The treats are distributed nationwide through online stores and on the ground. The FDA announced their decision last Friday. The recall affects to brands sold by the businesses: Barkworthies and Best Bully.

Pets owners who bought the treats are advised to throw them away (or keep them as evidence) and they can contact their suppliers for a refund to which they are legally entitled and/or contact the above mentioned businesses should they wish if they feel any compensation is justified and if they don't get satisfaction from the supplier. The first port of call for refunds and compensation is the retailer.

People who feel that there dog has been harmed by the treats are advised to contact their veterinarian immediately.

Details

Product	UPC	Item #	Lot Code	Best-By Date
Green Tripe, Barkworthies Brand 7oz Bag	816807015686	2015686	WO151768 WO152373	Feb–Mar 2026
Green Tripe, Best Bully Sticks Brand 2 lb Bag	816807016027	1016027	WO152669 WO153321 WO152107	Mar–Aug 2026
Green Tripe, Best Bully Sticks Brand 5 lb Bag	816807016010	1016010	WO151401 WO152319 WO153179	Jan–Apr 2026

Company Contact Information

Consumers:

TDBBS LLC

 877-483-5853

 Support@BestBullySticks.com

Media:

 (732)-897-6727

 dcarrillo@tdbbsllc.com