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West Australian councils could soon get the green light to force roaming cats indoors — but right now, a pet’s freedom depends entirely on which council it lives in.
Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley announced plans to change the law to allow local councils to introduce cat containment laws in February.
Under the current law, councils need to get permission from a parliamentary committee to introduce changes to their local regulations.
More than 20 councils have tried to make their own laws about keeping cats inside in the past, but only three have been successful - all in regional WA.
As a result, the cat laws in each local government differ greatly.
Ahead of the planned law change, we asked every Perth metropolitan council what their state of play is when it comes to outdoor cats.
Here’s what they told us:
The Town of Claremont was the only local council who refused to comment on their current cat laws, and whether it had ever tried to get them changed previously.
Councils said cats were currently banned from upwards of 300 Perth reserves, parks and protected bushland area across the metropolitan area. Nearly all councils have limits on the number of cats people can own, and a select few have trapping programs conducted by rangers for “nuisance” cats.
The changes to the 2011 Cat Act are only partway through the parliamentary process, but under its powers, local councils could order owners to:
- restrict cats to their owners’ premises;
- prohibit cats from all public areas;
- place conditions on when a cat may be permitted in a public area;
- introduce cat curfews; and
- require cats to be under the effective control of their owners or contained if leaving their owners’ property.
However, Cat Haven chief executive Roz Robinson said it would be interesting to see how any changes would actually worked in practice.
“It is interesting times with the review of the cat act coming up and it is interesting to note that whilst many councils are talking about cat containment being part of the cat laws, so many local governments do not enforce the current act,” she said.
“For example, I have it in writing from one western suburbs’ council, when faced with an enquiry from one of their residences about a stray cat, they simply refer them onto us.”
Robinson said the not-for-profit organisation was extremely supportive of cat containment laws, saying it not only improves cat welfare but would ease pressure on the service.
“With over 50 per cent of our intake coming in as strays, if we had proper containment laws, it would result in a reduction in these numbers,” she said.
However, Robinson also argued any change with the Cat Act needed to focus heavily on the benefits of de-sexing household cats.
“Over 80 per cent of these strays – most friendly re-homable cats – are un-desexed. Un-desexed cats wander – they become strays in their need to mate.
“You don’t have to be a mathematician to work out cats are prolific breeders and what numbers would look like without de-sexing.
“For years we have been trying to de-sex our way out of the cat problem, but with little appetite from others to assist, we are literally fighting a losing battle.”
She said there had to be continual state government funding towards spaying cats, as well as supporting the Cat Haven to deal with stray animals. Currently, she said the government provides just less than two per cent of the charity’s operating costs.
“What changes do we see after the review? It really depends if all stakeholders are serious about improving cat welfare or is it just another review being ticked off,” Robinson said.
“Our intake numbers are increasing annually – 8 per cent while the population is only growing two per cent – our site is not fit for purpose, and can only be described as dilapidated. There is no funding forthcoming to improve the site.
“We are an open admission shelter, we never say no to any cat and truly believe every cat does matter and want to give them all a second chance. But something has to give.”
