Japanese Outraged at Australian Cat Slaughter



Australia’s Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre is reportedly testing a system of poison traps designed to kill cats by “exploiting their natural curiosity.”

The trap uses light and sound to lure cats in to investigate, and once they have entered the trap a sensor attempts to determine whether they are a cat, and if so the trap delivers a dose of fatal poison. Cats are said to be uninterested in traditional traps, requiring a cat-specific lure playing upon their investigative nature.

In a macabre pun the system is dubbed “Curiosity.”

Australia is estimated to have a population of 18 million stray cats, which frequently prey upon Australia’s often times pathetically fragile native species.

Government efforts to control undesired non-native species have over the years seen countless millions of foxes, cats, dogs, pigs, rabbits, and fish destroyed by methods ranging from trapping and shooting to the introduction of viral agents, with mixed success.

Japanese hearing about the system were disgusted at the barbarous slaughter of so lovable a creature, particularly in light of their association of Australia with eco-pirate band Sea Shepherd and an unending stream of criticism about the (in Japan) uncontroversial issue of whaling:

“As expected of the Aussies. They fall over themselves to protect whales but abuse other species; this level of opportunism… it’s truly shameless.”

“Please don’t kill those lovable little cats! Cats are even more sensitive than whales. Please don’t kill them just for the sake of keeping their numbers down!”

“Australians are so crude!”

“What have Sea Shepherd to say about this? Nothing, because there’s no money in it for them?”

“I think Australia is justified in killing these cats, and Japan is also justified in killin whales. However, Australia has no right to be criticising Japan.”

“We’ve got to launch attacks on Australia to stop the slaughter of these poor cats!”

Whilst the ecological arguments for destroying an “invasive species” are generally considered sound, the ecological arguments against whaling are rather problematic – for example, the UN does not consider minke whales to be endangered and global populations are stable at several million, whilst Japan takes an annual catch of only 500.

Since Australian opposition to whaling is evidently based primarily on an irrational emotional and cultural attachment to whales, Japanese are naturally left wondering why their equally irrational emotional and cultural attachment to cats is any less significant.

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    Comment by Anonymous
    19:20 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (+0.2)

    MILLIONS of Minke Whale - and japan "Studies" only 500.

    Australia estimates they need to MURDER EIGHTEEN MILLION CATS.

    EIGHTEEN MILLION Cats > 500 Minke Whales.


    Comment by Anonymous
    02:00 07/04/2012 # ! Neutral (0)

    If you saw these feral cats you would want to cull them too. They are bigger than dogs and extremely mean. This link says these cats in Aus can get up to 1m in length and can kill sheep.


    Also as an aside I think some whale populations are such that they can support small, sustainable fishing for human consumption.

    Comment by Anonymous
    01:57 26/03/2013 # ! Neutral (0)


    Comment by Anonymous
    11:41 23/03/2013 # ! Neutral (0)

    stray cats, they get put down you retard not slaughtered

    Avatar of Jash
    Comment by Jash
    19:03 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (+0.2)

    being Australian its annoying seeing racist comments towards us
    1.our government is idiotic we know it they should be voted out and die this instant
    2.most Australians will be pissed at this. and if we had a choice most would say NO

    i personally think we should put them somewhere or fence them off from the "pathetically fragile native species" killing anything for being a annoyance would have a very empty world (and barely any of the Aussie government left)
    i think other places round the world should realize that Australia isent at fault for most things they think that we do "wrong" its the wannabe dictators that try and run everything we do.

    Comment by Anonymous
    20:50 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Cats and whales aren't comparable. Cats aren't even close to become extinct, even less so in Australia where they are at the top of their respective food chain, with nobody but humans to stop their rapid reproduction.

    That can't exactly be said about whales. But it's so typical of the Japanese really, I am hardly surprised: for them if something's kawaii enough you may not kill it! But if it's a wahle oh gosh can't cuddle with that, who cares if they go extinct?

    Comment by Anonymous
    06:08 02/04/2014 # ! Neutral (0)


    So why the fuck are you talking about extinction?

    Comment by Anonymous
    21:03 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    I love cats so dont get me wrong here but all these cats posting hate msg's, srsly grow up, saying that this is slaughter is almost mind bogglingly retarded and comparing what we are planning to do with the whaling situation is intensely short sighted and expected from intellectuals scouring these comments sections. Back off from australia, why not have a look at some of our cute and cuddly local wild life and then you might change your mind, especially if you take a look at how cute they look after a cat has ripped it's head off and torn a hole in its abdomen leaving a trail of intestines, fouling the air. We also gotta get rid off the bloody indian minors as well, if these feral cats actually caught one of the most irritating birds on earth then they could be forgiven for all the local fauna killing

    Comment by Anonymous
    22:06 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    After all, Aussies have genes of criminals that England didnt want. It's their nature to commit such atrocities...

    Comment by John Hayabusa
    22:12 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    I feel so sorry for Australia for being operated by a stupid and pathetic government.

    First, they banned porn featuring flat-chested women and now they wanna kill cats. The country has gone straight to hell.

    Comment by Anonymous
    15:50 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    child porn is bad...porn featuring people who are made to resemble children is bad...considering that japan has created loli, shoata and now toddlercon, austrailia is banning these...im a huge anime fan and i see no problem...

    Comment by Anonymous
    21:38 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    WTF? Is this article a parody or is it seriously comparing the killing of endangered whales for "scientific testing" (in restaurants) against the culling of feral cats which cause massive damage to the native animal population in Australia (as cats are a relatively recently introduced predator, many native species have little to no defense against them).

    Comment by Anonymous
    21:06 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Japan hunts endangered species and Australia kills millions of stray cats. They both lose.

    Avatar of screwlicious
    Comment by screwlicious
    Comment by Anonymous
    19:36 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    It's quite simple. Why don't Australia spend more money on traps that capture the cats instead? That way they can airdrop the cats over Japan (who really seem to like them what with raging over their planned exterminatus). That way, everyone wins! (Unless Japan, to it's horror, realises these cats weren't cute.

    Comment by Anonymous
    18:37 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    "Australian" well, you mean a few environmentalists who come from Australia and are a part of an international eco organisation? All because they come from our country doesn't mean that they represent what we think.

    Anyway cats? Feral cats are a pest, why can't we kill them? They're the reason why native fauna like koalas are going extinct.

    Artefact, what does this have to do with whaling anyway? It seems like you're using this as an excuse to bag out Australia on the basis that "we" rammed a japanese ship...

    Its as you say, your conclusion is evidently based primarily on an irrational emotional and cultural attachment to Japan.

    Can't believe so many on Sankaku fit that description.

    Comment by Anonymous
    18:26 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Ummmmmm... excuse me. why blame a whole country for doing something that the general population of the country know nothing about. I'm an Australian and this is the first time I've herd about it. I'm reading all these comments of hate towards Australians in general yet general Australians know nothing of these traps and stuff. Id be like you personally getting blame and hate for something some company that is based in your country is doing wrong.

    tl;dr Fuck you

    Avatar of Jash
    Comment by Jash
    18:45 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    being Australian its annoying seeing comments against us
    1.our government is fucked we know it they should be voted out and die this instant
    2.most Australians will be pissed at this. and if we had a choice most (if not ALL) would say NO


    Comment by Anonymous
    08:44 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    ur not really australian are you?

    Avatar of derrty
    Comment by derrty
    20:02 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    why not just do them castrations and put them back in the wild?

    Comment by Anonymous
    20:29 25/04/2013 # ! Neutral (0)

    what would that solve?

    Comment by Anonymous
    19:19 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    What? So castrate them, then put them back in the wild to continue killing off the native animals? Smart move.

    Comment by Anonymous
    02:32 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    The situations are fundamentally not comparable, regardless of the conservation status of a particular species of whale.

    The ferals in Australia pose a serious threat to the native ecosystem. Unlike whales in the Southern Ocean, Australia is NOT the native environment for these animals, and they do not belong here. It is unfortunate that the cull is necessary, but it IS necessary.
    Japan's whaling has no such claim - the whales ARE in their native environment.

    And I'm personally not opposed to a cull of minke whales if it is necessary to preserve natural balance as the whalers claim, but this necessity must be clearly established by a majority scientific consensus by international experts in the field. Such a consensus does not, as far as I am aware, exist for whales but must certainly does for feral animals.

    The viability of the cull (preferably extermination) of feral animals is not based on sentimental values towards whales as some claim. Australians love cats too, it is simply not ecologically viable to have them destroying native populations of endangered species.

    The extermination of feral animals is a necessity, the commercial fishi- sorry, RESEARCH - of whales is not.

    Comment by Anonymous
    00:33 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Nuke australia ?
    [ ] Yes
    [ ] 2 Won`t be enough
    [ ] Perform Exterminatus

    Comment by Anonymous
    12:18 21/03/2011 # ! Neutral (0)

    Nuke this Anon
    []No, deserves a more painful death

    Comment by Anonymous
    00:40 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Oh my god, the amount of stupidity here just... baffles the mind.

    These are NOT DOMESTIC CATS!
    There is nothing left of what you would recognize as a 'kitty'. They are nothing but wiry balls of claw and tooth and spit.
    If you try and pick one up you will quite literally lose both your eyes and most likely suffer SEVERE neck injuries probably resulting in DEATH!

    These traps will NOT BE USED IN BUILT-UP/SUBURBAN AREAS these areas will still be handled by standard Animal Control Agencies (City Council/RSPCA).
    Normal stray cats would still be picked up, taken care of and if not claimed or bought they would be peacefully euthenized as is the same process in America and most other civilized countries.

    If a dog goes rabid, it needs to be put down. Is this not even remotely similar?

    These animals are beyond saving, they deserve peaceful rest.

    Comment by Anonymous
    02:38 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    It's ok to kill the whales since they're not domestic. ^_^

    Comment by Anonymous
    09:35 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Whales are endangered. Cats are not (and in fact, they are bloody everywhere and they outnumber humans). Whales don't destroy ecosystems, cats do. Purge the kitties!

    Avatar of firemage
    Comment by firemage
    03:26 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Unless you're a vegetarian (or better still vegan) you're a hypocrite for bagging anyone for killing anything. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone".

    That being said, in Australia I look after dozens of wild animals and at least 1/3 of them were victims of cat attacks. Even domestic cats are natural hunters. It's too late now but no country should ever introduce alien animals and no one should be allowed to have pets. Just leave all animals alone in their natural habitats and go eat your vegetables!

    Comment by Anonymous
    03:16 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    That's about time if we want to save what's unique about the continents.

    There's no comparison in the ecosystem with what Japan and Australia do.

    The Whales are there and in a stabile way, the cats are breed and feed by humans and left to there own destroying the forign inhabitat of Australia.

    Don't blame the people for killing the stray cats, blame the people that made for that many strays to happen.

    Why can't people understand it's not the same thing killing 20 Pigs as it is killing 20 Wild Boars -_-

    Comment by Anonymous
    02:49 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    You want to kill the cat?

    Fuck that country and it's people!

    Comment by Anonymous
    11:46 23/03/2013 # ! Neutral (0)

    rape of namking

    your argument just got shat on you illiterate piece of trash

    Comment by Anonymous
    19:14 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    You sir are funny. Ever read the history of Japan? Ever read about World War II?
    Who, sir, is the barbarian?

    Comment by Anonymous
    20:04 12/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Those Aussies who are trying to include and justify their battle against Japan by including the events of WWII: STOP!




    Comment by Anonymous
    09:16 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    @ 03:29

    Obviously you didn't read my post clearly enough. I don't mind if the Japanese kill Minke Whales, so as long as they don't target Humpbacks, which are an endangered species. And I totally agree with you about the feral cats, we should have done something a long time ago to deal with the problem, but we didn't and here we are today. If these cats really are "cute and cuddly" as the news post suggests then I can understand why many of you would have a problem with us killing them, BUT they are not. They are vicious animals who kill the native wildlife of Australia. As I said, we should've done something a long time ago about the problem that could have stopped alot of these cats being feral but as with any country there are a lot of igrorant people who only realise the magnitude once it has gotten out of hand, and now killing them is the only option. Unless you wish to sacrifice millions of other animals who are already endangered in favor of feral animals.

    As for the rabbits, you can't sanely blame modern Australians for the actions of uninformed 18th century British colonists who didn't know bringing a bunch of rabbits to a new, unknown country with the purpose of using them as game would unbalance the entire ecosystem.

    Now about my WWII post, I'm merely defending the sacrifices of many good Aussie men against the igrorance of 20:04, who said they made no contribution. I had no intention of bringing it into the arguement. I'm sure you would agree that if someone disrespectfully insulted the contributions of Japanese war heroes or any other nation for that matter many would jump to defend their contributions. Anyway as you rightly said, we shouldn't bring it up into a debate of killing cats or not killing them and I'm sorry if it looked like I was bringing WWII into this debate.

    Erm my pets being killed isn't my fault, unless you blame me for having to attend school and not being there every hour of the day for my pets. Anyhow I did learn my lesson and haven't gotten any other pets since then. I'd like to think I took good care of my pets, and even humans need to get out of the house every so often.

    I'm all for advances in science! If you Mr or Ms Marine Biologist and any other scientist in Japan can learn from these animals and help their ecosystem do so! As for the advances in science thanks to human research I agree it has helped us now and Im sorry to hear that the Japanese research was stolen by the US, but there would be some arguing the ethical and moral implications of that research, however we must understand it was done during wartime, and we all know the capacity of war to turn men into monsters.

    In reality it boils down to the portayal by the media. We got people over here saying Japanese kill solely endangered whales for nothing but consumable purposes (which I know is a lie), and then we've got Japanese claiming we are murdering poor cute kitty cats (which I know is a lie too). Sometimes we have to filter the lies from the truth, do our own research. Yes I understand that we need to respect the rights of animals, but really at this point there's not alot we can do.

    Comment by Anonymous
    03:29 13/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)


    Then what is the purpose of the other Aussies of this site brought up the WWII topic? And yes I do know that human experiments and rape are bad, more so because we DID benefit from those human experiments LATER on because most of the results and information were STOLEN by the U.S. since they themselves cannot carry those experiments by themselves, and were sold to some big names in the medicine industry during that time. In short, they have made money out of those experiments....

    And Japan paid for them.... Rightly so. I even think $10M per country at that time isn't enough....

    That said, when we talk about bad leadership, do you mean then or right now? Because frankly the problems Asian countries faced RIGHT NOW never existed during the 1940's. Back then U.S. and the British still have colonies there. And most countries there, with the exception of China, are fresh out of the colony era. Might I also remind you that Japan is technologically superior than the rest of Asia then? That attack during December 7 and 8 was also a suprise attack. They attack WITHOUT A DECLARATION! We really didn't stand a chance. Australia, which is miles away won't be attacked until a few weeks later. You guys could have prepared much at that time. With an efficient strategy you guys could have pushed them back earlier even without U.S. help. You just didn't want to do anything with it until the Japs attack you. Heroes? No I think not. Opportunists? Better!~~ Just like the British and the Americans...

    And so is about your cat problem! Why just address the problem now? You idiots knew this has happened before(rabbits were the ones I think?), yet you didn't prepared for it and took the easy way out! Lazy! You could have just shipped them out of the country! What the hell are taxes for anyway? Think about it. You guys reason out that 1) Feral cats are dangerous, 2) They are not endangered.

    We have already address #1, that's what taxes are for. Or don't tell me that the Aussies don't pay taxes? If you guys know they will eventually become dangerous why didn't you preempt the problem beforehand? And why choose a barbaric way of dealing on that problem now? JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE CATS? OK So let's say JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE WHALES or JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE SHARKS.

    Number 2 MIGHT be right. Provided that we have the guts to wait for another animal go "endangered".

    And for your pets being killed.... That's your own responsibility and stupidity knocking at your front door. TAKE CARE OF YOUR PETS!

    SO if I were you I wouldn't be pointing. You guys persecute the Japs for whaling, which is another Japanese thing other countries benefit from. Light-years better than experimenting on babies and pregnant women. Not only that they DO research a way for the population of whales, dolphins, tuna, sharks and eels to stabilize, they try to re-create their breeding environment. I AM such a researcher. And we are close on finding an answer.

    Only that stupid Sea Shepherd ship got in the way! Why? Just for the show and the ratings. The research, unreported, went on a lot slower pace!

    SO whether they be cats or whales, each one must be treated in a civil manner. They are both mammals and animals with intelligence too. I a marine biologist by profession. I am an otaku, history-buff and a fan-fiction writer by hobby. I am a cat lover too. And I never leave any work undone before I write and play. Well thanks to you guys I got some at least 4 hours more spare time....

    Gee. It's getting long. So I end this one here. So go and kill those cats! Hypocrite!~

    Comment by Anonymous
    23:02 12/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    I take up your challenge sir,

    First of all, to say Australia did nothing in WWII is just an absolute insult. Not only did we do something, we actually halted the Japanese conquest of South East Asia, with nothing but a bunch of conscripts or
    "chocolate soldiers" who many thought would melt under the pressure of being up against Japanese regulars. Yet we didn't. A bunch of our untrained, under equipped farmers defeated wave after wave of professionally trained Japanese troops. Stopping them from capturing Port Moresby. It was only after Australia got the situation under control that America decided to step in. Plus we have other achievements from WWII such as the battle of Tobruk. The Aussies held their ground for days against Italian and Nazi forces that well outnumbered them. I ask you get your facts straight before you bring WWII into a debate about the killing of feral cats vs whales.

    I hope you realise human experimentation and rape aren't exactly good things? Why you would bring that up, let alone bring it up in a worthless pointless argument such as this is beyond me.

    Now back to the topic at hand, I feel that these feral cats are a menace having many of my previous pets mauled by them as well as being attacked by one myself. Yes I think we should kill them, but I also think we should impose legislation to prevent cats and other pets from being neglected and becoming feral. As with the whales. I don't mind that the Japanese kill Minke Whales but I do have a problem with them illegally entering Australian waters to do so. Also I have a problem with them hunting Humpbacks which are an endangered species as well as claiming they're killing them solely for medicinal purposes. Once again mabye our so-called leaders can get smart and form up some sort of overseas agreement to make sure the humpback population isn't harmed as well.

    Finally your last point on the situation of many Asian countries. I blame that solely on bad leadership and poor economic planning. What else do you expect to happen when totalitarian, corrupt governments rule a country, using the guise of such a noble idea as equality among peoples while at the same time abusing and murdering their own citizens.

    Comment by Anonymous
    12:16 21/03/2011 # ! Neutral (0)

    On the WWII subject... Dont forget the Japanese bombed Darwin with an attack force LARGER than Pearl Parbour.

    The Japanese did also attack medical ships...

    Comment by Anonymous
    23:11 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    for the uninformed, the reason for the killing of strays cats is because they become feral, and feral animals destroy everything they come across, which ends up being the wildlife an ecosystem (which is bad enough as cats tend to do that already, anything that actively plays with what it has just killed is evil)

    also, feral animals tend to carry nasty diseases such as rabies and so forth,

    Comment by Anonymous
    22:43 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Japanese Kill Endangered Animals = Mmmm tasty science Whale..

    Australians Kill Introduced foreign animal to save native wildlife = OMG but they R cute and stuff..

    Yeh, nice try at an argument but you have just failed at an attemp at being clever by way of proving your own stupidity in the article..

    Avatar of Frederica Bernkastel
    23:50 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    seems I was late to post any comments.. due to the numbers of comments that others posted it within 4 hours..

    anyway I need to buy a cat(s)...why don't they just exile/catapult all the stray cats to parts of different countries....of course, one on my doorstep too =D

    Comment by Anonymous
    00:18 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    so what? just let the cats take over australia its not like that would make the world worse or anything -.-

    Comment by Anonymous
    12:19 21/03/2011 # ! Neutral (0)

    Bet your racist to everyone that doest come from your country, please go away

    Avatar of drunkspiderman667
    Comment by drunkspiderman667
    00:01 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    i keep seeing that skit from family guy where peter gets in a turf war with a cat.

    Comment by Anonymous
    00:08 11/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    The difference between cats and whales: Whales will become extinct if people go on hunting them, cats won't.
    Thats why you can't compare the incomparable.

    Comment by Anonymous
    15:17 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    what about the dolphines? you fuking japs?

    Comment by Anonymous
    15:21 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    why? why?
    what did cats do wrong to aussie?
    i hate aussie government!

    Comment by Anonymous
    15:30 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Stray cats breed like rabbits, whales do not.

    Simple really.

    Comment by Anonymous
    15:09 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    Big difference here... Australians don't claim they're killing cats for research, and then truck them off as food. I've seen the whale meat for sale - cute whale meat mascots and all - at Tsukiji. Duplicitous shenanigans, I say.

    Comment by Anonymous
    15:05 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    This whole thing just shows how stupidity is international.
    There are often good arguments on both sides for a lot of environmental issues. Invasive species problems are not one of them. Every invasive species everywhere should be destroyed by whatever means necessary that doesn't harm native species.

    Comment by Anonymous
    15:31 10/03/2010 # ! Neutral (0)

    They complain about killing ugly sea creatures, but have no problem killing adorable kitties. I'm glad I don't live there.

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