A Bill introduced into the Assembly today by Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Shane Rattenbury, will more clearly define the requirements under cat containment laws, along with other minor and technical amendments to laws within the Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) portfolio.
“The Bill amends the Domestic Animals Act 2000, to replace the term ‘curfew’ with ‘cat containment’, to better reflect the intention of the legislation for cat owners in designated areas to contain their cats to their property,” said Mr Rattenbury.
“While cats play a valuable role as companion animals, roaming cats can pose a serious threat to native flora and fauna in the area.
“A cat containment area can be declared in a suburb, or an area of a suburb, if cats pose serious nature conservation threats. Residents within cat containment areas are required to keep their cats confined to their premises 24 hours a day. This could mean either confining cats to the house, or providing a purpose built cat enclosure on the premises.
“The change to this legislation aims to enhance community understanding and awareness of the objectives of the laws, and to more clearly communicate the obligations of those living within cat containment areas.
“A survey undertaken in 2011 of both cat owners and residents within cat containment areas showed strong support for cat containment in the ACT. The survey found that 65% of respondents and the majority of the 500 cat owners surveyed supported cat containment for all new Canberra suburbs. Only 12% of respondents opposed cat containment being applied to all new suburbs.
“The survey also found that contained cats have fewer injuries and related vet bills. Roaming or uncontained cats are four times more likely to suffer significant injures at least once a year, compared to those that are contained at all times. Contained cats are also not at risk of being killed by motor vehicles.
Cat containment areas are new suburbs that have been selected due to their proximity to nature reserves, and currently include: Bonner, Crace, Coombs, Denman Prospect, Forde, Lawson, Molonglo, Wright and ‘The Fair’ in North Watson.
Roaming cats seized within declared cat containment area can incur an infringement notice of a maximum of 10 penalty units (ie $1,400). For more information on keeping cats in the ACT visit
Loading ...
