Knox Council’s 24-hour kitty laws may be relaxed for older felines

Pet owners’ fears over a council’s planned 24-hour cat curfew has forced a rethink of the strict lock-in plans.

Knox Council could wind back some of the tough restrictions it has planned for cats.

An outpouring of concern and fear from owners has forced Knox Council to rethink its controversial 24-hour cat curfew plan.

The curfew, which was set to come into effect from October, will now likely be delayed until February, and may only apply to newly registered cats, after councillors supported Cr Darren Pearce’s motion at Monday night’s council meeting.

Councillors will receive a report at their August meeting, looking into alternate options for a cat curfew.

It would entail a dual curfew consisting of a 7pm to 7am night-time curfew for all existing registered cats within Knox; and a 24-hour curfew for all newly registered cats within Knox at a specified date in the future (no later than February 28 2022).

Cr Pearce also asked that the report provides advice on the council’s ability to delay the introduction of the 24-hour curfew until next February, when the council’s Domestic Animal Management Plan (DAMP) has been adopted.

Cr Nicole Seymour also added several inclusions to the motion, including that the report look at how council could better support residents to prepare for the curfew; how the council could conduct a random unbiased survey, to gauge cat owners feedback on the plan; and the development of an enforcement protocol, reiterating council’s approach to prioritising eduction before enforcement, including a warning system for first-time offenders.

Cr Pearce said a number of residents had contacted him concerned about the 24-hour curfew.

“Since the last council meeting I’ve done some thinking myself about how we could have come up with a better solution,” he said.

He said residents said it was “like a football game – you’re changing the rules at half-time for existing cat ownership and that’s not fair”.

Many also expressed concerns about the high cost of cat enclosures.

“It’s causing worry and stress for a number of residents,” Cr Pearce said.

He said by making the 24-hour curfew for newly registered cats only, residents could make up their own minds about whether they wanted to become cat owners and comply with the rules.

“I think we need to delay its 24/7 implementation and go back and revisit the community consultation process and the integrity of the feedback.”

Cr Seymour said she still believed the 24-hour curfew was the way to go, but said it was really evident the plan had polarised many in the community.

Mayor Lisa Cooper, who didn’t support the 24-hour curfew, said the community was not feeling adequately consulted on the plan.

“This is another step in the process which will enable those people who don’t feel adequately consulted to participate,” she said.

The 24-hour cat curfew has come under fire from pet owners, with many fearing the impact the “cruel” restrictions would have on older moggies.

A change.org petition, signed by more than 2870 people, says the new curfew will be particularly hard on older cats used to going outside, and calls on the council to only apply the rules to new kittens.

Under the new rules, which were set to come into effect in October, owners will be required to contain their cats to their property 24 hours a day – either inside their house, shed, garage, yard or an enclosure.

Cats can still go outside, as long as they remain on their owners’ property.

Owners will face $91 fines for first time offences and up to $545 for second or subsequent infringements.

There will be a six-month amnesty period where no fines will be issued.