Why is the City proposing a Cat Local Law? At the Ordinary Meeting of Council held 15 March 2022, Council endorsed the 2022 – 2026 Cat Management Plan, which included investigating the introduction of a Cat Local Law in response to objective two to “reduce predation of feral, owned, un-owned and semi-owned cats on native wildlife”.
What are the proposed cat-prohibited areas, and how will the City enforce them? The full list of cat prohibited areas can be found in Schedule 2 of the proposed Cat Local Law.
Enforcement of the City’s cat prohibited areas will be aligned with the City’s Compliance and Enforcement Policy, which provides for an escalating range of actions from education and warnings to infringements and prosecution. The approach taken will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
The proposed infringement amount is $300. If prosecuted, a Court may impose a fine of up to $5,000.
What will happen if my cat is captured in a prohibited area? If your cat is captured in a cat prohibited area, the City will, if your cat is registered, either return the cat to your house or ask you to pick your cat up from a designated collection point. You may also be issued with an infringement for letting your cat enter a cat prohibited area.
If your cat is not registered, it will be taken to the South Perth Animal Care Facility, who advertise all ‘lost and found’ pets on their website. If we cannot identify you as the owner and if you do not claim your cat, your cat may be rehomed.
What happens if I already own more than two cats? If you currently own more than two cats before the Cat Local Law comes into effect, you will be allowed to keep your cats without needing a permit, as long as they are registered with the City before the commencement date. However, once a cat passes away or is relocated, you will need to apply for a permit if you wish to replace it.
Why did you change the definition of ‘nuisance’? The definition of "nuisance" has been revised to align more closely with the State Government-approved definition. We were also advised by the Department of Local Government, Sports and Cultural Industries to remove subparagraph (d) from the original definition, as it was likely beyond our legal authority to include it. If we had not removed it, and the Department's advice proved correct, Parliament would likely require its removal once the Cat Local Law comes into operation. This would incur additional costs for the City, which would ultimately be passed on to ratepayers.
Why doesn’t the Cat Local Law impose a cat curfew or restrict cats to their owner’s property boundaries? We do not have the power to impose a cat curfew, restrict cats to their owner’s premises, or require them to be under 'effective control' while in public, as these provisions would be inconsistent with the Cat Act 2011.By law, we are prohibited from making local laws that conflict with State legislation. If we were to do so, there is a risk that our cat local law could be ‘disallowed’ by Parliament, rendering it ineffective. In such a case, the City would incur additional costs in preparing a new, compliant local law, with those costs ultimately falling to ratepayers.
Why are you reducing the number of cat prohibited areas? The number of cat prohibited areas has been reduced following advice from the Department of Local Government, Sports and Cultural Industries, who have indicated that the initial list might be viewed by Parliament as a ‘de facto ban on cats in public areas’, potentially conflicting with the Cat Act 2011.
We also believe that the reduced list is more in line with the
Council-endorsed Cat Management Plan 2022-2026, which specifies that we would investigate a cat local law to "prohibit cats from certain areas, such as native bushland and reserves".
What are the key changes in the revised Cat Local Law? Key changes include:
- Amendment to the definition of ‘nuisance’ to align it with the model definition as approved by the State Government. Most notably, this involves removal of subclause (d) which dealt with acts ‘likely to be injurious or dangerous to the health of any native fauna or flora’;
- Reduction in the number of cat prohibited areas (Schedule 2) to only those with significant native flora or fauna, or reserves set aside for conservation and nature;
- Amendments to the cat limit clause to make it clear the limit does not apply to:
- fostered cats; and
- cats that are only at the household temporarily (i.e., that person is cat sitting while the owner is away); and
- Further amendments to the cat limit clause to make it clear that households that currently have more than the limit (i.e., more than two cats) will not have to apply for a permit provided the cats are registered with the City before the commencement date of the local law.
We have also taken the time to do a fresh review of the proposed Cat Local Law and have made some further changes to the local law to improve its operation, ensure greater consistency with other recently revised local laws, and ensure it better complies with requirements of local laws as advised by the Joint Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation. These further changes include:
- Amendments to the permit application clause to provide timeframes around approvals, as well as requiring the City to give written notice, together with grounds and reasons, if a permit is refused;
- Amendments to the permit conditions clause to provide that any conditions the City may impose must be reasonably necessary;
- Further amendments to the permit conditions clause, as well as the validity of permit clause, to provide that when a cat the subject of a permit dies or is permanently relocated, the permit is no longer valid and the owner must apply for a new permit for any replacement cat;
- Insertion of a new subclause to the validity of permit clause to require a permit holder to notify the City if they move out of the district, or if the cat the subject of a permit dies or is permanently relocated;
- Amendments to the permit revocation clause to require the City to give written notice, together with grounds and reasons, if they revoke a permit;
- A general restructure of the enforcement section to make it easier to read and provide references to the provisions of the Cat Act 2011 that apply;
- Insertion of an objections and appeals clause that provides that a person aggrieved by conditions imposed on a permit, or the refusal or revocation of a permit, may apply to Council for a review; and
- Amendments to the prescribed penalties (Schedule 1) so that the modified penalties (infringement amount) better reflect the seriousness of the offence, and so that all offences have a listed modified penalty.
As we consider these changes to be significant, we sought Council approval in November to re-advertise our revised Cat Local Law for public comment.