New rules governing cats in the ACT have been announced in an effort to protect local native wildlife and encourage responsible pet ownership among cat lovers.
Unveiling ACT Cat Plan 2021-2031, Minister for City Services, Chris Steel said the new rules would balance the wellbeing of cats with the management of their impact on Canberra’s environment.
Mr Steel said the release of the Plan, from the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, followed detailed consultation with cat owners, environmental groups and the broader community.
“The ACT Plan Cat includes eight strategies which will be progressively rolled out over the next 10 years,” Mr Steel said.
He said annual registration requirements would be introduced for pet cats from 1 July next year, with new cat owners required to pay a one-off fee when they first registered a cat.
The Minister said the registrations requirement mirrored those recently introduced for dogs in the ACT.
He said the Plan would also introduce city-wide cat containment requirements for new cats obtained after 1 July 2022.
“Grandfathering arrangements will apply for cats owned before this date, exempting them from compulsory containment where their owners do not live in a cat containment suburb,” Mr Steel said.
“Outside of declared suburbs, cat containment will only apply to new cats, because we understand that existing cats and their owners may not be prepared or used to containment,” he said.
Minister for the Environment, Rebecca Vassarotti said the Directorate’s Plan would make a big contribution to reducing the harmful hunting of Canberra’s native birds and animals.
“While cats are a popular pet in Canberra and a valuable companion animal in many households, they are also predators that have natural hunting and chasing instincts,” Ms Vassarotti said.
“Every year, free-roaming but owned Canberra cats are estimated to prey on 61,000 native birds, 2,000 native mammals, 30,000 native reptiles and 6,000 native frogs,” she said.
Ms Vassarotti said legislative changes would be made to allow owners in cat containment suburbs to walk their cat on a lead, something which is currently prohibited.
The Directorate’s 31-page Cat Plan can be accessed at this PS News link.
