Mandatory cat registration ends 'trap, neuter, return' policy in ACT

The ACT is the last jurisdiction to scrap the program, which saw stray cats trapped, desexed and then returned to the streets.

Introduced earlier this year, cat containment laws will eventually prevent advocacy groups like the Canberra Street Cat Alliance, from returning strays to cat colonies in Fyshwick, Hume and Mitchell.

The ACT's grandfathering provisions mean all cats born before July 1 can still be registered and released, President Venessa Parton said.

"Cats are territorial," she said.

"If you remove a colony from their territory other cats from around the neighbouring area will just move in."

The ACT government says it has adopted a phase-out approach, encouraging animal welfare groups to trap, neuter and adopt.

Ms Parton said eight per cent of cats can't be adopted and the group will continue to desex them, register them and return them to Canberra streets.

"Effectively you're seeing natural attrition, the colony will die out, therefore reducing the numbers," she said.

Nationally, environment ministers have agreed advanced uptake of technologies is required to control feral cats, if Australia is to meet its target of no new extinctions.

Technologies already being trialled in all states and territories include Felixers, which use sensors to distinguish feral cats and foxes from other wildlife, spraying them with 1080.

A new sausage bait that contains plastic pellets encapsulating a lethal dose of the toxin, para-aminopropiophenone, has also been developed by the federal, Victorian and Western Australian governments.

The CSIRO is investigating the use of gene drive technology which spreads a genetic trait, such as sex, through a pest population's DNA, increasing the likelihood of offspring inheriting that gene.

While trials using mosquitoes have been successful, experts agree genetically mortifying cats to only birth males is some years away, due to ethical and social considerations.

Environment Minister Rebecca Vassarotti said exploring new measures of responding to feral cat communities in the ACT was of interest.

Roaming cats are estimated to kill 61,000 native birds, 2000 native animals, 30,000 native reptiles and 6000 native frogs every year in the ACT.

Research shows they've contributed to the extinction of more than 20 Australian mammals.

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Ms Vassarotti said the ACT government had made significant progress with new laws introduced this year, including Canberra-wide cat containment laws, aimed at protecting native wildlife.

"Critical to how we protect our unique biodiversity and threatened species is the way we manage invasive species, including the ways we control feral animals such as cats," she said.

"We have some great measures in place already that will go a long way in protecting our natural environment and threatened species, but we're always working towards the best possible solutions the will lead to good outcomes not just for our local wildlife, but for the cats as well.

"The ACT government is currently taking an educative approach to help the community transition to the new laws, which are already in effect, to give pet owners and the Canberra community time to understand the new requirements."

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