Cat curfew: Bendigo’s 24 hour confinement rule to start 2024

Long-held freedoms for cats during daytime hours in Greater Bendigo have been nixed by the council. Find out what that means for your moggy.

They’re not kitten around, Bendigo Council has clamped down on cat freedoms.

Fur might fly, but the council voted on Monday night to force all residents to confine their cats to their properties 24 hours a day, starting next year.

It is a stark change from current rules which only require pet owners to keep their moggies secured to the property from sunset to sunrise.

Cats will still be allowed to roam in their own front and backyards, but owners will be forced to keep them there.

A Bendigo kitten, which will be subject to new cat containment rules passed by Bendigo Council. Picture: Julieanne Strachan

Mayor Andrea Metcalf said the change had majority support, with 75 per cent of respondents to an eight-week public consultation period in favour of confinement.

The changes will also alter the rules for dog owners, who will have to comply with orders to walk their dogs on leads or take them to a dog park.

“Greater Bendigo is currently a default off-leash municipality,” Cr Metcalf said.

“But from January 1, 2024, it will become a default on-leash municipality with new designated areas where dogs can be exercised off-leash.”

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Cr Metcalf said some compromises had been made during the public consultation period.

“These included a provision for working dogs to be off leash when actively engaged in farming and stock moving activities,” she said.

“(And) changes to the lead length requirements for practical, training and enforcement reasons.”

The council also voted to introduce 21 off leash areas throughout the municipality.

Cats have been given some extra time to get used to the idea of staying in, with the new dog on leash requirements beginning January 1, 2024 and the feline containment requirements starting on July 1, 2024.

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