MOLLY'S MUSINGS is the column from Esperance Express journalist Molly Baxter.
Molly is brand new to WA, having moved from the sunny Gold Coast earlier in the year.
When she isn't being asked how tall she is without heels on, Molly can be found playing hockey and netball.
Her thoughts revolve mostly around being able to survive solely off ice cream, marrying Chris Evans and owning her very own yellow Jeep Wrangler.
A girl can dream.
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I'm going to stir the pot a little bit. I really dislike cats.
I pretend to like them and sometimes I ooh and aah at the photos of kittens and cats that clog my Instagram and Twitter feed but all together, I really despise them.
I struggle to understand why women seem to enjoy being a ‘crazy cat lady’ despite the negative connotations it draws.
My family never grew up with cats and it's not an unknown fact that cats are a major killer of native wildlife.
I think I really started to despise cats when I lived in Canberra and the crazy cat lady who lived next door just pushed me too far.
She had numerous cats and two big, beautiful huskies.
In the two years I lived there, I didn't once see the family walk the dogs but her cats were allowed the run free all over the street.
Due to the dogs getting almost no attention, they were full of energy and always barking and I was forever hearing her yell at the dogs for jumping up or barking too loud.
I don't know how many times I saw the cats in my trees trying to get the beautiful Rosellas and I was always trying to get them out of my wheelie bin.
It baffled me that she just didn't care about the damage the cats were causing.
The Department of Parks and Wildlife are attempting to control feral the cat population through baiting, in particular 1080 poison which they distribute across nearly 3.9 million hectares of parks and other conservation reserves.
However cats do not normally eat the dried meat baits used to control foxes so Parks and Wildlife scientists developed smaller and moister 1080 sausage baits which are more appetising to feral cats.
The Department of Environment said cats threaten the existence of more than 100 species of native animals.
Just let that sink in for a bit... 100 species of native animals.
Recently, we have been publishing articles about a struggling species of parrot that is almost extinct and the actions of a local group that has been rallying to save them.
The numbers of the western ground parrot has dropped to less than 140 in the wild and there are only seven birds in captivity.
The main cause of this beautiful bird's demise has been feral cats.
In WA, cat owners are required by law to register, microchip and sterilise pet cats.
Fines and penalties apply to those who do not follow these laws and ranger services are responsible for enforcing the infringements.
But lets be honest here, who is going to dob in their neighbour because they may or may not have sterilised their cat?
How does the ranger know if you even bought a cat?
Many are given away for free or bought from mutual friends who just happened to have kittens.
I understand that people have cats as pets - if you like an animal that gives almost nothing back then be my guest.
But please, for the sake of Australia's beautiful, native wildlife, sterilise your cats and keep them inside.
Be responsible pet owners whether you have cats, dogs, horses or fish and take responsibility for the effect your pet could have on our environment.
Our wildlife is too precious to be ruined by the cat.
What do you think? Do our laws go far enough to protect native species from the threat of introduced species?
