SHERBROOKE APPROACH TO CAT MANAGEMENT
Over recent years, there has been much publicity
relating to cat management measures adopted by the Shire of
Sherbrooke in Victoria. Cats were the main focus of the Animal
Welfare Law which was introduced by the Sherbrooke Shire
Council in November 1991. A useful review of the background,
purpose and performance of this law was presented at UAM3 in
Canberra by Sherbrookeís Environment Officer, Garrique Pergl.1
Disposing of stray cats and restricting the movement of owned cats
were two of the measures instituted, but there were a number of
other main provisions of the Sherbrooke Animal Welfare Law that
related to cats.
Pergl felt that the local law for cats in Sherbrooke had been a
success. But he also pointed out that no relevant sociological or
ecological scientific studies had been undertaken to allow formal
objective assessment.
Council rangers in Sherbrooke believed that the provisions of
the Cat Law were not only easier to enforce, but also more
publicly acceptable than those relating to dogs. Apart from an
anecdotal indication that the night curfew provision might
increase rather than decrease the incidence of bird predation,
there was no indication of the relative merits or drawbacks of
each of the nine components of the law. Although concurrent
programs such as Victorian Department of Conservation and Natural
Resourcesí fox control works were assisting in the protection of
wildlife populations, it was thought that the local law had
contributed to the comeback of the lyrebird population in
Sherbrooke Forest.
Pergl observed that the local law was in effect a documented
set of community standards which aimed to make it clear to
individuals what was expected of them as responsible pet owners.
He also commented that consistent community education effort was
recognised by the Council as being the key to effective long-term
cat control in Sherbrooke Shire. Enforcement of the provisions of
the law had become a low priority, used only to deal with
persistent and deliberate offenders.
The most important take-home messages from this pioneering work
seem to be the need for clear, meaningful local law, careful
community consultation, thorough community education, and formal
methodology of project progress assessment.
1.
Pergl G. 1994. The Sherbrooke Cat Law: does it work? In: Paxton DW, editor. Urban Animal Management: proceedings of the Third National Conference on Urban Animal Management in Australia (Canberra, 1994). Sydney: AVA: 183-187.
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