The plan, which was released yesterday by Primary Industries and Water Minister Jeremy Rockliff, is the first of its kind for the state.

For the most part, cat owners do the right thing - they neuter their pets, have them microchipped and do their best to maintain control over their predatory behaviour.

Through no fault of theirs, cats are nocturnal hunters, and when left to their own devices decimate our wildlife. It is estimated that cats take 1.3 billion tonnes of wildlife across the country a year.

In Tasmania, feral cats have been around for about 170 years and are now considered the main predator following the huge decline in numbers of the Tasmanian devil, caused by the facial tumour disease. 

Feral cats are known to travel vast distances every night in search of food and take native mammals, birds, rabbits, reptiles and even frogs.

Aside from the ecological impact of cats, there are equally damaging economic impacts - eradicating feral cats is a costly exercise and time consuming. Ultimately, authorities face a losing battle. Trapping has its limitations and it doesn't take long for new populations to move into areas that had previously seen their numbers culled.

Yesterday's announcement of the draft plan is the culmination of a year’s consultation with stakeholders with the aim of finding the best approach to manage domestic, stray and feral cats in the state.

The government recognises that for now, the eradication of feral cats in the state is years off, but by making amendments to the Cat Management Act of 2009, it hopes to better manage cats and their impact mainly by targeting domestic cat owners.

Those amendments include the compulsory desexing and microchipping of cats - with more succinct penalties for those owners who fail to do so; allowing for an earlier age of desexing, keeping cats inside their homes and stopping cats roaming at night and limiting the number of cats allowed at a property without proper permits.

The plan is now open until June 30 for public submissions. 

In welcoming the government's draft plan, Greens Environment spokesperson Rosalie Woodruff  was spot on in her assessment  – that it was time to shift community expectations from being a ‘cat owner’ to being ‘responsible for a cat’.