Council passes stronger cat confinement laws

NEW and more restrictive cat confinement rules have been passed by the Surf Coast Shire, and will come into effect in six months.

Adopted by councillors at their meeting on Tuesday this week, the Cat Confinement Order states cats kept within the municipality must be securely confined to their owner’s premises at all times.

The only exception is that cats may leave their owner’s premises if they are securely confined with an appropriate cat carrier or other reasonable means of restraint.

Under the original order, introduced in February 2001, shire officers could seize cats found at large in any public area or outside their owner’s property between 8pm and 6am in urban areas, with owners having eight days to reclaim their cats.

According to the officers’ report to councillors, this order was introduced in response to community concerns about the negative environmental impact of cats on native animals and neighbouring pets, and the nuisance value of wandering animals for neighbouring households.

The council’s Domestic Animal Management Plan 2022-25 identified an action to investigate and make recommendations about extending the cat confinement order, and community consultation in 2021 revealed cats harming wildlife was one of the three biggest concerns of respondents.

A survey carried out last year found nearly six in 10 respondents wanted a 24-hour cat curfew in urban areas.

The shire will run a six-month transition period to support and advise the community of the changes and promote relevant resources to assist in making changes to their property and their cat’s behaviour ahead of the order coming into force on September 30.

Cr Rose Hodge, who successfully moved the motion, said she had been a cat owner for 18 years and was one of 924 cat owners in the shire.

“Cat curfews are all about responsible pet ownership, and that includes that your cats are safe and not roaming from their homes.

“This recommendation does not force cats into enclosures, but the onus is on the owner to try to ensure that their felines are on their property.”

Cr Paul Barker said he appreciated what the new rule was intending to do “but the method was ludicrous”.

“Rules are only useful if they are easy to police – I can see this being largely an impossible rule to enforce.”