Cat containment to be expanded across Canberra

Existing owners will be able to register their cat for free while new owners after this date will pay a one-off fee.

As part of an effort to protect native wildlife, owners with cats born after July 1 will be required to keep them confined to their premises at all times or risk a $1500 fine.

Cats born before this date will be allowed to continue to roam, unless they live in one of Canberra's 17 previously declared cat containment suburbs.

The expansion of the cat containment program was announced last year, but legislation for the change has just been passed.

The bill also updates the rules for all cat containment areas to allow cats to be walked on a leash, following a campaign by Wright resident Emerson Riley who's change.org petition received 1500 signatures.

While domestic cat control rules have tightened, it remains unclear whether the ACT's trap, neuter, return policy for feral cats will be scrapped.

The program sees feral cats captured, neutered and then released back on to the streets of Canberra. Returning feral cats back to the wild is banned in most of Australia.

Minister for City Services Chris Steel said they've taken an approach whereby the trapping, desexing and adoption of feral cats was preferred.

"We'll be working with many of the care organisations that trap cats and try to move them to a position where we can see those cats adopted as much as possible," Mr Steel said.

RSPCA animal care manager Simon Yates said the RSPCA in Canberra currently had around 100 kittens and 16 adult cats in foster care that needed rehoming.

He said he supported mandatory desexing as a solution to controlling the feral cats that made up the colonies in Canberra.

Mr Yates said the capture, neuter and release program was a contentious and emotional topic and there wasn't enough data to make an informed decision on its continuation.

"What we're finding is breeding seasons are actually extending in time and the kittens born early in the season, are actually having kittens themselves by the end of the season," he said.

"It's an exponential problem."

READ ALSO:

Mr Steel said the registration and containment bill would promote responsible cat ownership, cat health and protect the environment.

"Introducing annual registration for cats will mean we can reunite lost cats with their families more quickly by having up-to-date contact details and will ensure better education and enforcement of responsible cat ownership," Mr Steel said.

"We know that cats who are out roaming the community, live much shorter lives," he said.

"We already have 17 suburbs in the ACT that have been declared cat containment areas, so what this will mean is that we're extending cat containment beyond those areas to all 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."

In line with current ACT government policy, new Canberra suburbs will continue to be declared as cat containment areas as they are developed.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: