Perth Voice Interactive

VINCENT council is having another tilt at introducing stricter cat control laws after its previous by-law was given the thumbs down by a WA Parliament committee.

Vincent had sought to have breeding cats confined to cages and licenced cats leashed when in public places, similar to laws being sought by many other councils across WA.

But local government rules can’t contradict state government laws, and parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Delegation Legislation has rejected various attempts to control cats as “inconsistent” with the WA Cat Act. 

In December 2022 Vincent councillors proposed changes to its local laws requiring people with three or more cats to licence them; they would also have to be “contained on the [owner’s] premises unless under the effective control of a person”, meaning on a leash or in a cat carrier or cage.

The law was supposed to come into effect in February, but on March 23 Parliament’s delegated legislation committee sent Vincent a letter saying it had overstepped its reach: The Cat Act allows local governments to ban cats from certain places, but it can’t put conditions on them being in public, so requiring leashes is a no-go.

After getting the letter Vincent councillors voted in April to “ensure the local law will not be enforced” and come up with a new, compliant version.

The new version was put out for public comment this week, deleting the rule about leashing licenced cats.

Another clause of the by-law that drew the JSCDL’s frown was a rule that allowed licence holders to keep up to six breeding cats subject to “each cat being permanently confined in an effective cage system”.

That was deemed to risk contradicting the Animal Welfare Act which states “a person must not be cruel to an animal”. 

A council report summarising the JSCDL’s concerns states: “The permanent confinement of a cat may cause, or is likely to cause, unnecessary harm to an animal.”

The new amended policy clarifies “adequate space for the exercise of each cat kept on the premises” and “the premises must be maintained in good order and in a clean and sanitary condition”.

The amended law is open for submissions until September 10 and should go back to council that month.

After the JSCDL’s disapproving letter arrived, former councillor Dudley Maier pointed out at April’s meeting that Vincent council has had three local laws knocked back by the joint standing committee since 2019.

That’s “three out of three since 2019,” he said.

“I do not recall a previous local law knocked back. I may be wrong, but I can’t remember anything similar. I think it’s sloppy.”

Vincent’s not alone in having trouble getting cat control laws passed: In 2022 Fremantle council’s attempt to leash cats in public was rejected by the legislation committee as going beyond what the Cat Act allows, and Bayswater is currently struggling to bring in similar laws after an initial disapproval. 

by DAVID BELL