Cat owners may be forced to spend thousands on building custom enclosures for their pets if powerful new laws are passed next year.Â
Local councils in Western Australia could be granted new powers to enforce cat containment and fine owners whose pets stray too far from home.Â
The federal government is currently amending the Cat Act 2011, with the changes expected to come into effect from as early as 2026.Â
Building a large custom cat enclosure can cost upwards of $4,500.
It’s been estimated that since colonisation in 1788, cats have played a leading role in most of Australia’s 34 mammal extinctions.
A University of Sydney study found that each roaming cat killed an average of 186 reptiles, birds and mammals per year.
The 2020 report showed a death rate of 4,440 to 8,100 animals per square kilometre per year in areas inhabited by pet cats.Â
In Australia, 2.7million pet cats, or 71 per cent, are able to roam free and hunt wildlife.
A pet owner erected this portable containment to keep his cat inside at night
Some homeowners have spent thousands on building custom enclosures for their cats
WA Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley said councils had been calling for changes to cat containment regulations for over a decade.
‘(The act) provides local governments with important tools to manage cats, including prohibiting them from specific public places, addressing nuisance behaviour, and enforcing sterilisation, microchipping and registration,’ she said.
‘If passed, the reforms will provide a framework for local laws which promote responsible cat ownership including cat containment – empowering individual councils to engage with their communities on these issues.’
The City of Bayswater in Perth has tried to introduce laws allowing council officers to fine owners whose cats were found too far from home, but it was rejected by the WA parliament due to conflict with the Cat Act 2011.
‘It means that Bayswater can’t go ahead with very sensible legislation,’ Legalise Cannabis MP Brian Walker said.
‘I’m a cat lover, I have a cat at home myself, but I’m also aware that cats can cause untold damage to our flora and fauna, so we need to be responsible owners.’
WA Greens leader Brad Pettitt said LGAs were frustrated by the lack of action.
‘We’re seeing huge council support and huge community support for this,’ he said.
A report showed that 71 per cent of Aussie cats are able to roam free and hunt native wildlife
‘There was a real opportunity for the parliament not to disallow this and to actually let those local governments that want to lead, let them lead.Â
‘Let Bayswater show how this can work in this community.’
WA opposition local government spokeswoman Kirrilee Warr said the parliamentary rejection was the 27th time a council had tried to take action against irresponsible cat owners, only to be denied by parliament.
‘Councils still lack the tools they need,’ she said.Â
‘The law must be fixed so councils can act now, protect wildlife, and meet community expectations, not wait until 2026.’
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Strict new pet law to cost Aussies $5,000: What you need to know