Shoalhaven City Council will lobby the state government to stop domestic and feral cats from free-roaming outside the boundary of an owner's property.
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The motion to bring regulations in line with requirements for dogs was brought to council by Councillor John Levett and was passed unanimously at the Development and Environment Committee meeting on Tuesday, July 13.
Council CEO Stephen Dunshea will now write to Premier Gladys Berejiklian, South Coast MP and Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock, Energy and Environment Minister Matt Kean and Kiama MP Gareth Ward urging the Companion Animals Act 1998 be reviewed so domestic and feral cats are no longer "free to roam" outside the boundary of an owner's property.
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The NSW act permits cats to roam freely beyond the perimeter of the owners property as long as they are microchipped, registered and wearing a collar.
In his motion to council, Cr Levett said "this is out of step with the regulations relating to dogs and prevents the impounding of a cat on the loose unless an order has been issued nominating the animal as a 'nuisance' cat".
"The only way forward is to bring the regulations pertaining to cats into line to that of dogs wherein the owner is responsible for the movements and care of the cat," he said.
"In other jurisdictions, state governments have either made their own regulations which is largely around containing cats at the owners house or through a curfew on the property."
In Australia, the population of domestic cats is around 3.8 million and the population of feral cats is between two and six million.
"The statistics of native animals they destroy is quite disgusting and sad so we need to do something about that," said Cr Levett.
"Native animals don't generally have high reproductive rates so they are susceptible to species decline because of the efficiency of the cat as a predator. Feral cats have been implicated in at least 25 mammal extinctions in Australia."
Cr Levett said the act was also in need of reform to prevent the spread of cat borne diseases like Toxoplasmosis which is a parasitic disease caused mostly by infected feral cat faeces.
It can impact livestock populations and cause severe illness in infants infected in utero or in people with a weakened immune system.
"The act is also in need of reform to protect domestic cats, which are an important companion animal, from death and injury when they stray into the foreign environment outside the safety of the owner's home," he said.
