New laws force cat owners to secure pets overnight, complete confinement requirement from 2024

A metro council will require cat owners to restrict their pets 24/7 as part of a new curfew. See what the strict rules mean.

A northeastern council is set to introduce 24/7 cat confinement laws in a bid to reduce “public and environmental nuisance” caused by felines.

Soon, cats in the Campbelltown City Council area will need to be secured at home overnight, with a new curfew to be introduced within weeks, before a complete confinement requirement is introduced next year.

As of June 1, 2023, Campbelltown council’s new cats by-law will require all domestic cats to be kept at home overnight from 9pm until 7am.

Cat owners in the Campbelltown City Council be required to keep their pets on leash when outside under new ownership laws. Picture: Nicole Cleary.

However, as on January 1, 2024 all domestic cats will need to be kept at home at all times unless they are leaving the property in which case they must be on leash or otherwise effectively secured.

From June, cats will be also be required to be registered, wear identification and a new limit on the number of cats owned will be capped to two per property.

Cat owners may be fined $312.50 for any breach of the council by-law, including when their cat is found off their property.

The Campbelltown City Council decision comes after Adelaide Hills Council put in place the state’s first 24-hour cat curfew in 2022.

Since January 1, 2022, Adelaide Hills Council‘s cat by-law has required all domestic cats to be kept at home at all times, unless on a leash.

The Adelaide Hills Council says the laws help “promote responsible cat ownership, allows council staff and volunteers to separate out feral cat populations and reduces the incidence of public and environmental nuisance caused by cats”.

The Campbelltown council reported the new by-law received ‘strong support’ during community consultation in June 2022.

A consultation report showed a survey of 403 residents indicated 70 per cent of ratepayers supported the control measures overall, while 55 per cent supported containing cats at all times unless under control.

Councillor Therese Britton-La Salle with her cat Lucy. She opposed the by-laws that will see cats confined to houses forcing the pets to be leashed outside. Picture: Keryn Stevens.

However, the decision was not met without opposition, with Campbelltown councillor Therese Britton-La Salle leading a resistance to the ownership law changes.

She famously brought a cat cage to a council meeting in 2019 and told The Messenger the laws had the potential to “alienate” members of the community.

“They’re suggesting to walk your cat on a lead not exceeding two metres, it’s ludicrous,” she said.

“And ‘containment’ can be in a shed, in a vehicle, in a cage, that’s just so barbaric … I’ve been inundated with residents who are just devastated.

“Basically we’re ambushing the residents and saying, ‘this is the law, this is what will apply’.”