LETTER TO THE EDITOR

RE: Cats and Dogs.

Hello all,

                  I asked the State Government for information about what Townsville City Council had presented to them about the proposed Animal law changes to understand what we might expect in the near future. From the RTI,(Right to Information) I have come to understand that it is the TCC is ready to ban Cats from Magnetic Island all together. They also discuss Koala Conservation Zones of which none are declared yet, but is obvious to me, that means NO DOGs in Koala Conservation places. Why would you enter paperwork about Koala Conservation Zones if there was no intent?

                  My interest, is in how a considerable amount of love and psychological wellbeing might be inadvertently being pulled from my very conservative community, I have no Cats or Dogs and feel that my freedom of choice to have a Cat or Dog, is being unfairly pulled from under mine and  my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren’s feet..

                 In my research I found that the Federal government was pushing to have all ferals removed from the Australian Islands. When I enquired to the lead lady, I asked if the cats and dogs  brought to Magnetic Island community were desexed, would that be ok?......... she responded very quickly and positively saying “Perfect!”.. a perfect compromise!

                 I rescued a crying adult Ginger Tom (Phoenix), that showed up as though this house was the “ House of Ginger Cats”,  Cat Hospital or “Salvos” for the homeless. Dr. Bee eventually found that Phoenix had Feline Aids, when it was sadly agreed to him put down to minimise disease spread and suffering. The Feline Aids, I am informed, has decimated, if not eliminated  all the stray cats and if one of our newly imported desexed cats were to go wild, they would not be able to breed as before and the food bowl of the Picnic Bay dump  is no longer. I don’t believe there are cats at the Waste Station where more control of waste is in effect. Phoenix came to me rather than be a stray…. I believe that the cats and dogs want our love and care, our company, as we do them. There are anomalies in the reasons for the local Wallabies demise in the Nerita Crescent area. I thought they had all died within or near the same land of where they were being fed. Dodgy rat infested food???

                 Mayor Jenny Hill has said at a previous MIRRA meeting that they were working on a compromise, with no further elucidation.

                 Could/would the community ask the Mayor to be gracious, as an election gift, to acknowledge the amount of intimate love the animals/pets can bring to the voters, especially the older widowed people who built Magnetic Island and add the compromise of allowing desexed cats/dogs into our community and let the community at large, reside in undivided peace.

                  The above, suggest that cats and dogs don’t want to be stray and therefore, instead of causing loving, gracious people becoming illegal, as what is being inferred to me, I wonder that the Mayor might make an election promise to the good people of Magnetic Island, in-line with the Federal government needs and accepted compromise, allowing de-sexed pets. I do believe the Magnetic Island Petition showed an overwhelming acceptance of cats in the community….. (320+?)

                  Regards,

                                   Michael Schmidt.

MAGNETIC ISLAND.

ED NOTE. The TCC said they would allow the Petition against the Banning of Cats on Magnetic island and it would be included and counted. ( MCN has a voice recording of that conversation ). They then said the petition was ambiguous in its wording - yet it had been passed by solicitor before printing?

The petition was raised as many island residents had great difficulty in completing the on line - Have Your Say survey. ( The MCN still has a copy of the signed petition)

TCC has changed the goal posts to suit their own agenda of having Magnetic Island Domestic Pet FREE.

As for the 3 wallabies who apparently died from toxoplasmosis that has never been scientifically proven - a research paper prepared by JCU, still has not been published in any journal such as Pub Med.

If dogs owners on Magnetic Island think this change of law will not affect them - they are WRONG!