Government is on track with introducing new laws to address the Island's wild cat problem ? and earning fresh kudos from environmental groups.

Entitled the Cats Bill, the legislation will provide for a programme of licensing and registration of domestic cats and spaying of cats not intended for breeding.

The measures, originally announced in last year's Throne Speech, have found their way to Cabinet Office ? one of the last stops before being submitted to Island lawmakers for approval, according to environmental group The Bermuda Audubon Society.

"We are extremely pleased with the action that Government is taking and we've sent our thoughts to the Ministry in praise of how far they have gotten and we hope it will move forward quickly along with the public relations campaign which of course we are willing to help with," said Audubon Society president Jennifer Gray-Conklin.

She said the measures were a "very positive action" for Bermuda.

President of the Bermuda Feline Assistance Bureau (BFAB) Lyn Vaughan agreed, saying a programme to identify cats in Bermuda was crucial to addressing the feral cat problem.

But she cautioned that microchipping ? which appears to be the way of the future ? was more expensive than other forms of identification and hoped that some cat owners would be exempt from the procedure.

"We certainly do support the identification of cats by some means and the future means will be microchipping. We are hoping that there will be a grandfather clause that will allow other forms of identification," Ms Vaughan said.

"I would hope it wouldn't be demanded initially and that it would be moved in gradually."

But she said that no one interested in the welfare of cats would oppose the measures.

Government consulted with BFAB, the Audubon Society and other non-Governmental organisations before drafting the bill.

Effectively the bill will make cat owners as responsible for their pets as dog owners.

"Those who are not responsible and do not get their cats fixed will let their cats run wild and that has always been the source of feral cats in Bermuda so this is a key piece of legislation as far as we are concerned," Ms Vaughan said.

According to BFAB there are now probably around 1,000 feral cats on the Island ? a far cry from the roughly 10,000 to 15,000 cats that was estimated to roam the Island in 1991.

Bermuda changed its control measures from euthanasia to spaying and neutering which proved to be far more effective.

The Cats Bill represents another forward movement in the battle, supporters say, and should enhance the work of organisations like BFAB.

"We are looking at a project where we will do some very serious trapping," Ms Vaughan said.

"We plan to hire a trapper who will work very consistently on trapping and will keep statistics on trapping. We get very few calls now about large numbers of cats that are unneutered. We get very few calls about sick cats so definitely we've made an enormous impact in the last 11 or so years since we've been formally organised. This legislation will speak to the fact that the feral cat is not native to Bermuda but is here because of man's lack of education in terms of controlling the cats."

She said she hoped that it included compulsory neutering of non-breeding cats.