Cat Curfew & Registration By South Australian Council

6 Replies to “Cat Curfew & Registration By South Australian Council”

1. Please I live on my own with my tiny dog .
   My back neighbour has a free roaming cat
   This cat is in my garden doing its business and peeing on my front door walking around my home on the fence causing my dog to bark all the time the same cat makes itself comfortable on my outdoor setting all night leaving fur on my cushions.
   The list can go on .
   What I’m saying now if this was my dog doing these things how do you think the owners of the cat would react

2. This lady is not seeing both sides of the problem as she is obviously a cat person and owner. I came home on dusk one night and counted six cats roaming around close to my house, with two defecating in my front garden. I don’t own any animals but am forced to put up with cat crap, cat noise, cats on my roof, cats spraying on my porch, while my neighborhood cat owners blissfully ignore what their animals are doing. I also regularly see these same cats stalking native birds. I used to have blue tongued lizards in my yard. They are now all gone thanks to straying domestic cats belonging to irresponsible owners.

   1. Hi Bill. I commiserate and wouldn’t want to be in your position. The only disagreement I might have is whether these cats are in fact owned. It would not surprise me to learn that they are strays. Of course, if someone is putting out food then they should take full responsibility.

      1. Hello how do i stop my cat bringing home birds

      2. Hi Jess. The only way is to keep them indoors. No other methods are effective except an outdoor enclosure.

3. There are no cat bylaws for Campbelltown Council SA. We fought them tooth and nail and the proposed cat bylaw was disallowed by Parliament.
   We are currently fighting them tooth and nail again and the community has stated that 83% of the respondents do NOT want a cat bylaw.
   Cat laws have undermined good cat management and requests for desexing have dropped to half since the forced microchipping. Undesexed cat numbers have massively increased.
   Please see our Press Release.
   C.A.T.S. Cats Assistance To Sterilise Inc

   PO Box 160 Kensington Park SA 5068
   PRESS RELEASE

   Catastrophic Campbelltown Council
   cat bylaw quashed by Connie
   South Australia’s Legislative Council’s Hon Connie Bonaros MLC of SA BEST has disallowed the proposed Campbelltown Council cat bylaw.

   “This Motion was successful and the Council has been sent away with its tail between its legs” said Ms Christine Pierson, the President of C.A.T.S. Cats Assistance To Sterilise Inc.

   So too has a similar proposed cat bylaw by the Town of Gawler.

   “This, now quashed, proposed City of Campbelltown cat bylaw was totally and utterly unjustified, extreme in its requirements, unrealistic in its objectives, unsupported by the science of cat behaviour and had detrimental consequences to both the cats, and the owners and carers, with its application!”

   “The draft cat bylaw was dumped because it included, demands for horrendous cruelty of tethering cats by a fixed collar and chain to a post, plus the following massive grievance list against inadequate consultation and overbearing and intimidating demands… “, she added.

   “most residents and ratepayers did not know about the proposed cat bylaw and it was done during the time that they were excluded from the public gallery because of the COVID19
   absolute minimum of notification; questionable that even the minimum was carried out during the full stated public consultation period
   little – chance of constituents finding out about the public consultation as most people were trying to stay at home and still many do not have access to the internet and did not know about it in any case
   that it undermines a 30-year, long-term Community/Council C.A.T.S. Cat Management Program as set out in Council’s Animal Management Plan, unanimously supported by previous City of Campbelltown elected members, which has been extremely successful in reducing the cat numbers and cat related problems by, desexing over 5,000 cats and controlling unowned cats, also strongly supported by the wider community
   no demonstrated need for the bylaw as complaints about cats are minimal, and the few pockets where the cats are coming from the Adelaide Hills Council are already being addressed by residents
   minimal substantiated evidence to prove that cats have been a significant threat to wildlife as sightings stated of feathers in the open are obviously attacked by Birds of Prey (stated by the Adelaide Museum) and almost never can complainants prove that cats were responsible for attacks on wildlife when asked to substantiate their claims
   no evidence has been provided that the bylaw would or could save native wildlife in any case, and the mass desexing of both owned and unowned cats and keeping these cats well fed are the best way to minimise such threats, as removal results in new undesexed, hungry cats infiltrating and breeding to excess
   no clear indication of the aims and goals of the proposed cat bylaw as required under the Dog and Cat Management Act
   no details provided of the methods to be used to achieve any assumed goals of the Cat Bylaw as stated as a requirement in the Dog and Cat Management Act
   no evidence provided that the assumed goals could realistically or would ever be achieved
   no details of the costs of the fines were provided in the information to residents
   no details of the fees to be charged for registration of cats or if the fees were going to be charged
   against the wishes of the community who have made it clear that the proposed cat bylaw is not wanted by the majority (62% of respondents to the public consultation opposed the cat bylaw and 83% of respondents opposed the Cat Bylaw in the previous “Roaming Cats Survey” on which the Cat Bylaw was based)
   Council has withheld information of residents’ rights to complain under their democratic right and constituents were not told that they could complain to the Legislative Review Committee and the State Ombudsman about their grievances , when they asked elected members and Council staff whom can they contact with their grievances
   lack of support from Ward Councillors and inadequate representation
   the cat bylaw would cause extreme emotional and financial hardship for those cat owners who cannot comply with the requirements of the bylaw
   extreme stress and difficulties for the many, especially the elderly, infirmed and disabled ratepayers regarding caring for and managing confined cats
   impossible for shift workers to comply with the requirements of the by-law
   almost impossible, even for pet cats to be retrained into the specific, restrictive and unnatural requirements of the bylaw and impossible for most cats to be fully confined, particularly those not accustomed to being kept inside
   Vets are now confirming that cats are becoming obese and their health is being affected by confinement
   cats are becoming depressed and anxious and Vets are having to prescribe anti-depression drugs which is not acceptable
   anxiety caused by confinement is causing aggression and big increases in attacks on owners by confine cats; hospital records prove this
   cats are not like dogs and cannot be managed like dogs
   cats cannot be adequately exercised on leashes ; leashes are not recommended by the RSPCA
   the RSPCA has stated that cat trapping cages should not be provided to the general public
   the unintended consequences of unowned cat numbers increasing rapidly resulting from the confinement of owned, desexed cats being prevented from maintaining their territories; the “Vacuum Effect a scientifically proved phenomenon of nature as noted in the current Campbelltown Council Animal Management Plan as “The management of domestic and feral cats cannot be considered in isolation due to the territorial nature of cats. Even if Council was to be effective in confining pet cats, ‘unprotected spaces’ would be subject to visitation from feral cats.”
   confinement and removal of desexed cats resulting in an influx of new undesexed cats, less likely to be well fed, constitutes a far greater threat to native wildlife
   concerns expressed by residents in adjoining councils that their cats may visit neighbours who live across the boundary and get caught in the traps and injured or killed. Campbelltown Council provides these trapping cages without any supervision as to what happens to the trapped cats
   the by-law defies the science of cat behaviour and is a recipe for an environmental and economic disaster,” Ms Pierson confirmed.

   “C.A.T.S. Cats Assistance To Sterilise Inc, Campbelltown Cat Management and Welfare Group, Cat Protection Society of SA Inc, Cat Support Group of SA, Campbelltown Council constituents. Animals Australia, Animal Justice Party and other organisations and individuals combined to concentrate for the last 12 months on finding sufficient evidence to support having this proposed cat bylaw quashed.”

   “Our heartfelt thanks to Connie Bonaros for her courageous stand to right the wrongs that were threatening upon the constituents and cats of Campbelltown Council.”

   “The City of Campbelltown already has a highly successful mass desexing and good cat management Plan which has been strongly supported by the previous Campbelltown Councils (until mainly new councillors and a new Mayor were elected) which has resulted in an excellent example of amicably managing cats and reducing cat numbers and cat related problems on a large and wide-scale basis, with many thousands of cats being desexed through the Low Priced C.A.T.S. Cats Assistance To Sterilise Desexing Scheme.”
   As stated – “This, now quashed, proposed City of Campbelltown cat bylaw was totally and utterly unjustified, extreme in its requirements, unrealistic in its objectives, unsupported by the science of cat behaviour and had detrimental consequences to both the cats, and the owners and carers, with its application!”
   For further information please contact

   Christine Pierson

   C.A.T.S. Cats Assistance To Sterilise Inc
   Cat Behaviourist and Cat Consultant
   Former Councillor Norwood Payneham and St Peters Council
   Former member State Government Cat Consultative Committee to the Dog and Cat Management Board
   Former TAFE instructor in Cat Management to Council staff and the public
   Former teacher Dip KTC
   Recipient of State Government Award for C.A.T.S. for “Service to Councils

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