These cats, according to the RSPCA, would have suffered severe pain over several minutes due to the high level of tissue trauma and damage to organs.

Shooting animals with a bow and arrow is unethical and also an ineffective method of limiting populations.

In fact, culling has repeatedly been shown to lead to an increase in the number of animals present as it creates a more suitable habitat for increased reproduction.

Humane, long-term population-control techniques such as immunocontraception do exist. Injuring and killing animals will never restore balance to the natural environment.

The only reasonable solution is either to make the land itself inhospitable to the animals or to work on controlling animal populations by reducing their fertility.

Cats become feral because lazy humans fail to desex them and then dump them when they get pregnant.

Compulsory desexing of companion animals is the first step to solving this problem.

People getting their kicks with lethal weapons is not the answer.

This "cat lover" should be charged with aggravated cruelty under the Victorian Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Desmond Bellamy, PETA Australia

SLATER and Gordon welcomes the Australian Law Reform Commission’s report of the inquiry into ‘Protecting the Rights of Older Australians from Abuse’ as a positive step towards abolishing elder abuse for Australia’s aging population.

The report, commissioned in response to the rise of elder financial abuse, was launched by the Federal Attorney-General at the 2017 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Forum in Melbourne last week.

In an effort to establish a national plan against elder abuse, the report was drafted in consultation with states and territories to ensure there are appropriate laws and legal frameworks in place to safeguard and protect older people from abuse and to assist them in obtaining compensation where financial abuse has occurred.

The Elder Abuse – A National Legal Response report is an important first step in combating elder financial abuse – but there is still some work to be done. 

Instances of elder financial abuse are becoming more prevalent as significant portions of Australia’s population become older and people’s individual wealth continues to grow with the increase in property prices and compulsory superannuation. 

Now more than ever there needs to be a national approach to ensure legal frameworks are providing appropriate protections and safeguards for older Australians.

While we welcome the broadening of state tribunals’ jurisdiction to determine complex property and family disputes, we are concerned that the nature of those types of dispute can be factually and legally complex and will likely require legal assistance and representation. 

The discretion of the tribunal to award costs in such matters should be further considered. In our experience, we have found that it is unlikely for older people or their family members to have the confidence or ability to issue and run these types of disputes without legal assistance.

And while it is paramount for our laws to protect the rights of older Australians, everyone has a role to play in stopping elder financial abuse it its tracks. 

Preventative measures such as public awareness and training are so important. In order to stop elder abuse once and for all we must establish a community based approach to identifying the signs and to prescribe the help and support necessary.

Jessica Latimer, Slater and Gordon