Greens to introduce cat containment laws in NSW

NEW laws will be proposed by the Greens in the NSW Parliament in October that would make people responsible for keeping their cat safely at home and give councils the discretion to regulate and enforce cat containment measures in priority areas.

Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said, “The failure of the NSW Government to act on cat containment is a tragedy for the environment, and is now a national embarrassment.

“We are now the only state that hasn’t addressed the extinction of native animals as a result of wandering pet cats.

“Protecting our precious and threatened native species is the primary driver for us taking this step, but the truth is that irresponsible cat owners that allow their animals to roam free and unsupervised are not taking care of the animals that they have a responsibility to care for.”

The proposed legislation seeks to:

1. Amend the Local Government Act 1993 to allow Councils to make orders on defined areas within the Local Government Area that would require an owner or occupier to take action as necessary to prevent a cat from escaping from premises on which the cat is kept.

a. Failure to comply with this order would be an offence with a maximum penalty of 8 penalty units or $880.

2. Amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 to require that a person in charge of any animal, including cats, must not without lawful authority intentionally release an animal from the premises where it is kept unless the animal is accompanied by the person.

a. This would be in addition to the requirement for a person in charge of an animal to ensure the animal is provided with food, water, and shelter.

b. A breach of this section would be an offence with a maximum penalty of 8 penalty units or $880.

“Our plan is two fold and acts to protect animals and empower Councils to work for their community,” Ms Higginson said.

“We intend to create a responsibility for cat owners, to ensure that the cat is kept on the same premises where it is cared for with food, water and shelter.

“We also want to see Councils given the authority to make decisions about priority areas in their communities where people can be required to take action to prevent cats from wandering.”

The NSW government’s Animal Welfare Committee, in a report released in August, found a lack of evidence to support mandatory cat containment and cat curfew laws.

“A major issue that emerged throughout the inquiry was cat containment or cat curfews, and whether or not this should be mandatory,” said Emma Hurst MLC, Committee Chair.

“Overall, many believed that there are benefits to voluntary cat containment, but that the potential negative consequences of mandatory or punitive cat containment laws make them unworkable in New South Wales at present.

“It was apparent to the committee that there is currently insufficient evidence that mandatory cat containment and cat curfew laws are effective, and in fact they could have adverse consequences including the costs imposed on councils and significant increases in euthanasia rates.”