Aussie cat info on local cat laws
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In Western Australia local laws are being introduced in several shires in relation to the keeping of cats. The City of Joondalup was introducing formalised cat laws to come into effect October 1, 2009 however these laws have been disallowed by the Legislative Council on the 15th September, 2009 and will now not be going ahead. Other shires such as the City of Swan have introduced Local cat laws (approved in 2008) which allow neighbours to trap your cat and turn it into the local pound or shire if it's on their property. The question needs to be raised as to why some shires are allowed to keep implementing these local cat laws when the City of Joondalup's cat laws have been disallowed. There seems to be a great imbalance in statewide policies and laws regarding cats and cat ownership. The local cat laws aim to promote responsible cat ownership, welfare and safety of domestic cats and to assist in the prevention of nuisances to the community caused by cats. Unfortunately for cat owners there is presently no avenue of disputing these laws with the individual shires nor the due processes to dispute the decisions made under them. These laws have the potential to disrupt and damage relations between neighbours and encourage vigilantes to target several cats in one street just because they don't like cats. The Contradiction of Local Cat Laws with the Natural Characteristics of Cats
'Whether it's her scratching or spraying instincts, or walking her domain in the same fashion every day reestablishing her scent trail, or arguing with other pets in your home or neighborhood (because it is after all, her territory). Cats do so because they have learned to survive in an elegant, complex yet sophisticated way. And it's probably just as hard for cats to adjust to domesticated life as it would be for humans to adjust to surviving in the wild.' (Extract from Article by Robert Gallegos) These newly introduced local cat laws do not take into consideration the inherent behaviors and nature of cats and trying to confine and control these behaviors is simply against the laws of nature for these animals. Responsible cat ownership is one thing that most cat lovers can achieve by sterilizing their cat, microchipping & tagging pets with identification tags and keeping cats in at night. However cats cannot be trained like the dog species, and forcing cat owners to achieve the impossible by preventing their cats from occasionally wandering into a neighbours yard is simply ludicrous! The harsh penalty of trapping cats, impounding them and having your cat euthenised as a result is a sickening and heart breaking reality now for cat owners and their families. That this type of action is being implemented by your local shire and your neighbours is just disgusting. The Basic run down of these Local Cat Laws and How they Apply to your Cat There are some variations in these local laws depending on which shire your suburb 1. The registration of cats may be compulsory for each cat you own or only for 3 - 6 cats. 2. All registered cats within the Shire shall be sterilized. 3. Cat owners shall ensure their cats are identified by a collar and tag with their identification details including address and telephone number of the owner or be micro-chipped with the contact information of the owner. 4. A cat shall not be in a public place unless it is under effective control; a cat shall not be in designated place specified in a schedule under the local law in particular protected flora & fauna areas. A cat shall not be on private premises where a complaint by the owner or occupier of the premises has been made to the City in relation to the cat's unwanted presence on the property.
Penalties Contraventions to these local laws may incur a fine as nominated by your Shire or the impoundment of your cat by an authorised person which includes a Shire Officer or the occupant/owner of a private residence. If a complaint is made by a neighbour to the Shire about your cat, the Shire Advocate or a Shire Ranger will contact you directly as to the nature of the complaint and remedies expected. Note: you cannot be forced to fully enclose your cat currently under these local laws, only to keep your cat inside during the hours of 9pm to 6am each day. Where an unidentified cat is impounded and not collected within 7 days of its impoundment the Shire can offer the cat for sale, cause the cat to be destroyed or cause the cat to be rehoused. Local Cat Laws by Shire For more detailed information on the local laws in your Shire, click on the links below:-
City of Joondalup Shire of Swan You may find the document below very interesting, as a cat owner it seems the Shire of Swan had very little community input or agreement from shire residents before introducing these new cat laws, see what you think ... Adoption of Local Cat Law by Shire of Swan - August 2008 This is an excerpt:- '• On 23 January 2005 a Private Members Bill in relation to Cat Legislation lapsed within Parliament. It was suggested that there was no overwhelming community support for such legislation. • On 8 February 2006, Council resolved to develop a report for the introduction of a City wide Cat Local Law.
• On 1 March 2006, the City received five individual letters of support proposing a Cat Local Law. • On 14 June 2006, the City received a petition containing 300 signatures urgingthe City to adopt a Local Law relating to Cats. • On 17 October 2007, Council resolved to advertise a draft Cat Local Law for public comment and form a committee to review the public submissions and the potential implications of administering such a Local Law. • 27 public submissions were received, 13 objected, 11 in support and 3 submissions of comments in relation to the draft Local Law relating to Cats.• A series of 3 meetings were held with interested Councillors and staff to review and discuss the submissions and agree on the approach. It is recommended that the Council adopt the Cat Local Law and advise the petitioners and respondents to the public submission period accordingly.' Ordinary Meeting of Council, 25 February 1998
Shire of Mundaring
These laws are based on Local Government Act 1995 so you may wish to check with the shire as to whether these laws still apply within this shire region.
City of Stirling Keeping & Control of Cats Law - 1999 Town of Vincent Cat Sterilization Scheme & Cat Ownership Rules
The following shires in Metropolitan WA do not presently have any local cat laws in place:- Bayswater City Council, Chittering Shire Council, Claremont Town Council, Cotteloe Town Council, City of Canning, Fremantle City Council, Gosnells City Council, Kwinana Town Council, City of Perth and the Vincent Town Council. Aussiecats.com will be adding more links on local laws for shires in WA, you can contribute to this page by visiting our 'Contact Us' page.
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Cats have underlying natural characteristics and lots of inherited behaviors such as a strong sense of territory and being solitary in nature that contradict completely with what these local cat laws are trying to achieve.
falls in, the main requirements are:-
