Cat confinement laws coming for felines in Melbourne’s north

Cat owners in Melbourne’s north face a heavy financial hit with a council bringing in a tough restrictions on the family feline.

Thousands of cat owners in Melbourne’s north will be forced to spend hundreds of dollars to build cat runs and feline-proof fences with no financial help from the council as a strict new lockdown laws come into place.

From August, Whittlesea Council will enforce a 24 hour cat curfew and mandatory desexing for newly registered cats.

The curfew will mean that cat owners must confine their pets to their property at all times, with residents liable to cop a minimum $92 fine each time their cat is caught outside the property.

To assist with the confinement rule, the council has suggested residents make alterations to their property like buying cat proof fencing or make a DIY cat outdoor enclosure.

Epping resident Anna Doumtsis said she “absolutely could not” afford to spend hundreds on an enclosure for her pet.

“We can’t get a pension, we’ve retired … If I can't take the precautions that they’re asking what am I going to do with my cat?

“I don't have a problem with putting it away at night, but I can’t lock it up in the daytime as well, it’s so inhumane.”

Ms Doumtsis bought her cat Sasha for her four-year-old granddaughter to play with when she visited each day, and said the family adored their pet.

Anna Doumtsis' granddaughter Sasha with their cat Frankie.

“We love our cat, we don’t want anything to happen to it,” she said.

“We’ve done the right thing and we’ve had her desexed, registered, microchipped, vaccinated … but now, I’m not really sure what I’m going to do in August.”

Mill Park resident Connie Arena said she was shocked when she realised how much she would have to spend to cat-proof her property.

“I started looking at rollers for the fence … we've got about 50 to 60m of fence, who’s going to fund that, if that’s what the council wants us to do?”

Ms Arena said she was also disappointed with the lack of public notice about the implementation of the curfew, after she only found out days ago through social media.

Mill park resident Connie Arena's cat 14-year-old cat Zeus.

“They send me text messages when (my cat’s) registration is due … when you’ve got to pay money, but they don’t send you out reminders when you have to do something,’’ she said,

“I think it should just be a night curfew for cats.”

Ms Arena said there should be at least some financial incentive for people with registered cats.

“If they want us to confine the cat then they shouldn't be requesting us to pay to register as well … there needs to be some sort of compensation,” she said.

In a statement from the council, chair administrator Lydia Wilson said the confinement law was designed to tackle overpopulation of cats in the area.

“This change also means that the requirements for both dog and cat owners are consistent, requiring their pets to be securely confined to their property or under effective control when outside the owner’s property, such as on a harness, cat backpack or pram,” Ms Wilson said.

“We value pets and the role they play in our community and we need to balance the wellbeing and management of pets, strays and wildlife with the needs of the community as a whole.”