Cat management for Magnetic Island - a controlled trial

Shane Scriggins and Dick Murray

Abstract

Cats are in many ways an attractive type of pet animal both from the point of view of their owners and from the point of view of city councils. However, to maximise their benefit as pets and to minimise their potential for community nuisance, some form of municipal cat management is necessary. Urban animal management in general has a well earned reputation for being a difficult issue and cat management is shaping up similarly. The townsville suburb of magnetic island has a number of unique attributes which qualify it as a particularly good place to undertake an organised community cat management fact finding operation. The rationale for the recently launched magnetic island cat management strategy is explained. Difficulties experienced in this process (both expected and unexpected) are detailed.

About the author

Shane Scriggins

Townsville City Council

PO BOX 1268

TOWNSVILLE QLD 4810

Ph: (077) 220481

Fx: (077) 220464

Shane Scriggins started working in animal control with the Brisbane City Council in 1983. Shane obtained his TAFE Certificate of Animal Control Practices qualification, his TAFE Certificate of Business Management and is currently working on his TAFE Certificate of Local Government majoring in animal management. He is presently employed as Technical Officer (animal management) by the Townsville City Council.

The cat management trial explained in this paper was developed by both authors with the assistance of contributing members of the Island community, other Council officers and the deputy mayor, Ann Bunnell.

Details relevant to the background of his co-author in this paper (Dick Murray) are included in the paper

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