The Melbourne Council has decided to implement a curfew (or ban) on cats roaming around outside. Write a letter/point of view – paragraph on what rules should apply to cats and cat owners. Do you agree or disagree with the curfew and why?
- Include statistics and real-life example/story.
- Be as formal as possible
- Only use third person – it/ he/ she / they
- Avoid contractions
Sample topic sentences
It is important to ensure that cats are confined to the house because .. environmental damage.. destroying wildlife.. habitat.
The council’s decision to introduce a cat curfew is unfair.. discriminates against cat-owners.. and makes it to impossible for them to own cats.. (simile of the children locked up)
It is impossible to monitor and regulate such a policy. The council does not have the funds to drive around the neighbouring catching cats. (citizens may just become more surreptitious with their cats)
READING MATERIAL
Killer cats … From The Age
I was outraged and saddened, as should be all Australians, by the report (“Cats eat 1.8 million reptiles every day”, The Sunday Age, 24/6) of the carnage being inflicted by cats, both domestic and feral, on our reptile population.
Our courtyard garden bird bath is frequented by birds ranging from wrens to wattle birds. This year my wife and I went on holiday for a month. Days after our return we were struck by the total lack of bird visitors. Next day we discovered a cat lying on the wall next to the bird bath. It kept on returning despite our efforts to dissuade it from its unwelcome intrusions onto our property.
We have owned dogs. They were licensed, tagged, prevented from escaping and controlled in public spaces. We cleaned up their excrement. Why are cats not required to be licensed, can roam at will, defecate where they please, and slaughter native wildlife at will?
Will there ever be authorities courageous enough to legislate to bring cats under the same restrictions as dogs? Peter Evans, Bentleigh East
… and the ecosystem
Many people give no importance to the tiny reptiles or small furry animals that often live in their gardens. Cats are a problem. I have found dead ring-tailed possums, which have obviously been mauled by cats in my garden. Another problem, I believe, is the laying down of rat poison as I have found dead native swamp rats also. This is most disheartening, as I have worked at providing native habitat for these creatures only to find I have unintentionally lured them to their deaths. I beg of people to abide by the law and restrict their cats to their own properties, as these native creatures, however small, are an essential part of the ecosystem. Janice Dwyer, Rosebud
Feline furious: Yarra Ranges cat owners fight curfew Aisha Dow March 18, 2014
Cat owners Joanne Huxley (left), her husband Ray and their daughter Emma. Photo: Joe Armao
A Melbourne council’s decision to ban roaming cats from its streets has been met with a fierce backlash, pet owners branding the decision ”cruel” and ”unjust”.
The Yarra Ranges council last week voted for a new policy to require cats to be confined to their owners’ property at all times. The move was supported in a 234-person online poll.
But since the announcement hundreds of other residents have complained they were not consulted and have dubbed the council ”a bunch of cat-haters”.
A change.org petition calling for the permanent curfew to be abolished has received almost 900 signatures in four days, dwarfing the council’s original poll. Montrose video producer Peter Brewer began the campaign after reading about the curfew for the first time in The Age.
Before the vote, proposed changes to cat and dog regulations were advertised on the council’s website, community newspaper, social media and articles in the local paper.
But Mr Brewer said it was clear the message had not been received by many. He said it was ridiculous a law could be introduced after a poll of 234 people, in a municipality of 145,000.
His two cats are allowed to wander during the day, wearing their bells and a collar, before they are locked inside at night. ”I don’t know how we are going to keep cats inside that have been outside all their life,” Mr Brewer said.
The council’s planning, building and health director, Andrew Paxton, said since the vote 40 letters opposing the curfew and 14 letters supporting the policy had been received.
It is also understood one councillor has since written to the change.org petition saying they did not support the curfew, but believed the council was committed to it and ”won’t abolish it soon”.
In the meantime angry residents, including Nathan Rees, have taken to the council’s Facebook page telling the council to ”get a grip”. ”Good luck with the 24-hour cat prison,” Mr Rees wrote. ”How about I lock up your children in my laundry all day?”
Cat owner Sandy Lee is concerned cats could be abandoned as the result of the policy and complained about the cost of installing outdoor enclosures.
”As a renter, we can’t just install outside enclosures, apart from the fact that it costs thousands people like me don’t have,” she said.
Montrose retiree Ray Huxley is upset he did not get to have his say before the policy was passed. His family had adopted an ”interloper” cat who likes to wander outside.
The council said there would be no financial assistance to help low-income residents construct outdoor enclosures.
”However, some cat owners have been successfully confining their cats to their properties without enclosures,” Mr Paxton said.
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