text: For decades, feral cats, called bush cats in the land down under, had proved to be an ecological disaster throughout Australia, including Tasmania and the smaller islands. Many native species of birds and small marsupials had been driven to extinction, owing to predation by feral cats and by several other non-indigenous species imported by the early Europeans.
  
  The Aussies were evenly divided on whether to kill all the cats or to use other means to keep them from further harming the native fauna. When the call for feral cats arrived, many Australians felt that it wouldn't be such a disaster if the species became extinct. One vocal group in Western Australia wanted to pass legislation making it a crime to assist with the perpetuation of the species Felis catus. They failed.
  
  In any case, quite a few Australians mourned the loss of their pet cats and chose to help with the project. As in other countries, there were feral cat societies, and, when Anneke's e-mail message reached them, members of these groups were able to identify areas throughout the continent where FHF-free feral cats might be found. Ultimately, the Aussies rounded up forty-seven cats free of the virus. These were all sent to the Moscow Institute of Veterinary Medicine, where a special facility had been erected to house and experiment with feral cats, using Vera's procedure and Noah's vector.