There can be no doubt cats present a significant danger to the rich populations of native Australian wildlife, and letting them roam without thought or care puts more vulnerable creatures at risk. But the future of cat containment is still a vexed issue.
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A federal parliamentary inquiry on Friday found 3 billion - yes, billion - native animals are killed by feral cats each year, meaning each feral cat kills roughly 1100 animals annually.
The problem is therefore significant without the added impact of domestic cats, which can be both beloved family pets and well-honed killers.
Given Canberra's proximity to bushland and the interconnection between its suburbs and reserves, the best methods for limiting the havoc of which domestic cats are capable need careful consideration.
To this end, 17 suburbs have been declared cat containment areas, forcing owners to keep their pets inside in a move which the ACT government insists protects both cats from injury and native wildlife from cats.
So far cat containment areas have been declared only in new areas of development, allowing residents to be well aware of the rules before relocating.
However, the ACT government has so far refused to rule out expanding its cat containment policy to the rest of the city, a move which could have a transition period as fast as five years. The Draft ACT Cat Plan 2019-29 says the government's "initial preferred approach" is to gradually extend containment areas to certain established and new suburbs close to wildlife areas.
A quickly imposed blanket ban would be a harsh imposition on the quarter of Canberra households who own cats.
If this is not the government's position, why not rule it out?
The alternative to containment, of course, does not have to be a hands-off approach, where domestic cats are permitted to run rampant through the city's streets each night.
The ACT government must continue to stress the importance of responsible pet ownership, and make sure cat owners know to keep their pets inside after dark.
Banning all cats from roaming would be an unpopular decision.
It would be impractical and costly and have a large effect on caged cats formerly free to roam.
Any extension of cat containment areas to established suburbs must be carefully planned and only come into force after a period genuine consultation.
To do otherwise would be an unfair and significant imposition on cat owners, most of whom are aware of the dangers their cats can pose to our native wildlife.
