Released 07/04/2021
The ACT Government has passed new laws to help Canberra’s cats live longer and healthier lives, while better protecting native wildlife.
“Cats provide love and companionship to many Canberrans. These new laws will build on our successful dog registration model to help promote the health and wellbeing of Canberra’s cats and responsible pet ownership,” said Minister for Transport and City Services Chris Steel.
From 1 July 2022 all cats will be required to be registered, with details to be updated annually. Existing owners will be able to register their cat for free while new owners after this date will pay a small one-off fee. The new requirement for cat registration and fees mirror the ACT’s annual dog registration scheme, introduced in 2021.
Canberrans will be able to register their cats from next month ahead of the July 1 commencement. Details on how to do this will be released soon and form part of a community awareness and education campaign.
“Annual registration for cats will mean we can reunite lost cats with their families faster, by having up-to-date contact details. It will support better education and enforcement of responsible cat ownership, for example through education campaigns targeted directly to cat owners,” said Minister Steel.
The new laws will also expand cat containment across Canberra for cats born from 1 July 2022. Cats born before this date will be continue to be allowed to roam, unless they live in one of Canberra’s 17 declared cat containment suburbs.
“We understand that existing cats and their owners may not be prepared for, or used to, full containment. The grandfathering approach for existing pet cats strikes the right balance to allow a fair and gradual transition,” said Minister Steel.
In line with current ACT Government policy, new Canberra suburbs will continue to be declared as cat containment areas as they are developed. However, we have updated the rules for declared cat containment areas to allow cats to be walked on a leash in these suburbs.
As part of this new approach to cat management, the ACT will move to a formal policy of ‘trap, neuter, adopt’ for unowned and street cats. This will promote animal well-being while managing local cat colonies in some parts of Canberra.
“Roaming cats live shorter lives on average, and experience more diseases and injuries than those that are contained to the home. They also cause significant harm to native wildlife like Canberra’s great bird population,” said Minister Steel.
“We want to see more street cats find good homes with responsible owners. Volunteer animal welfare organisations play an important role in this, so we will use the next few months to work closely with local groups to help them adopt new practices and monitor the impact of these reforms once implemented.”
These laws contain new strict liability offences for pet owners who do not register their cats or keep them contained when they are required to be. However, the ACT Government will be taking an educative approach to compliance during the transition to the new scheme, to give pet owners and the Canberra community time to understand the new requirements.
These reforms to cat registration and containment implement key elements of the ACT Cat Plan released in 2021.
- Statement ends -
Chris Steel, MLA | Media Releases