Hume City Council is considering a cat curfew following community feedback on its draft Domestic Animal Management Plan (Damp 2023-26). Consultation on the draft document is open until 25 July 2023.
Councillors heard during Monday’s (26 June) meeting of the full council that several local governments across Victoria have moved to introduce cat curfews to “mitigate and address environmental impacts, nuisance concerns and stray/feral population reduction”.
As part of the Damp consultation process, 74% of survey respondents are in support of a cat curfew. Roughly half want a dusk-to-dawn curfew (46.6%), while 53% want cats kept indoors 24/7.
While noting there was majority support for the introduction of a cat curfew, council officers say further analysis is required before a decision is made.
This will include further engagement with community members, consideration of enforcement options and related resourcing, exploration of possible financial/housing implications for cat owners and policies/procedures that would need to be in place to enact a cat curfew.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting, Cllr Jim Overend (Aitken ward) says he constantly receives complaints about cats “making noise and marking their territory – it’s become a big issue in Hume”.
“This is a great time for people to speak up and put this cat curfew in play,” he said.
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