Brendan Simpkins

GAWLER Council is set to overhaul its cat ownership by-law with a number of new requirements proposed for pet owners.

Council started public consultation for the requirements on March 17, with the community given until April 8 to comment.

The updated by-law includes a limit of two cats a household, compulsory registration of felines in the area and a 10-hour curfew from 9pm to 7am.

Cats would also be required to wear identification on a neck collar and tag, including information such as the owner’s name, address and contact number when outside its home.

Trevor Bellchambers of the Gawler East Neighbourhood Watch raised the issue of feral cats during council’s January 27 meeting.

Speaking during the public open forum, Mr Bellchambers asked what could be done to curb the problem.

He said cats were breeding “out of control” in Gawler East. Speaking this week to The Bunyip, Mr Bellchambers praised council for
taking the steps to curb the problem.

“I think it is great that council now seem to be taking a step,” he said.

He said domestic cats were not the problem. It was feral cats that were killing native animals and causing damage in the area.

Mr Bellchambers said a number of people in the area had approached him for advice on what could be done.

This not the first time council has proposed radical changes to its management of cats.

It proposed a by-law in 2019 that would have given staff the authority to seize any cats found wandering at large and destroy them after 72 hours if not claimed.

But that proposal was rejected by the State Government’s Dog and Cat Management Board last August, forcing council to remove the clause from its proposal.

Marion Council proposed a similar curfew on cats wandering at large, giving inspectors power to seize and detain cats.

Residents could request a cage to catch cats on their property, which would be turned over to council and impounded at the RSPCA if owners could not be identified.

The curfew was proposed from 9pm to 7am.

South Australia’s Legislative Review Committee rejected the proposed by-law in July last year.

This is despite a similar curfew, 8pm to 7am, being imposed at Mount Barker.

Mount Barker Council’s curfew came into effect in February last year, aiming to address nuisance behaviour and decrease effects on native wildlife.

Cats found in breach of the curfew will be reunited with their owners, but would be impounded and rehomed if they could not be returned.

Owners would be hit with a $112 fine if they failed to comply.

In 2019, RSCPA South Australia and Animal Welfare League joined forces to create a proposed Cat Management Plan for the state. It called for the introduction of mandatory detention periods, cat curfews and visible identification to go along with microchipping.

Feral cats are considered an invasive species and were declared a national pest in 2015.

In June last year, the Federal Government launched an inquiry into the problem of feral and domestic cats in the country.

A report was submitted to the Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy, which said the population of feral cats in Australia totalled 2.8 million.

A submission to the inquiry by the Threatened Species Recovery Hub – comprising researchers from RMIT University, University of Sydney and Australian National University among others – showed
that 390 million animals a year, mostly natives, were killed by pet cats.

Feedback on Gawler Council’s latest proposed by-law closes at 5pm on April 8.