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NSW Companion Animal Act review a purrfect opportunity to fix outdated laws preventing cat containment 

The Invasive Species Council welcomes the NSW government’s announcement today that it will review the outdated Companion Animals Act 1998 which currently prohibits Councils from being able to implement cat containment and curfews.

‘It is great to see that Minister Hoenig and the NSW government are taking action to review these outdated laws which stop local councils from ensuring roaming pet cats are not out killing our native wildlife,’ Invasive Species Council Interim CEO Jack Gough said. 

‘This is an important opportunity for NSW to catch up with other states by empowering councils with the tools they need to protect our native wildlife and improve the lives of pet cats.

‘Every year about 66 million native mammals, frogs, reptiles and birds are killed by roaming pet cats just in Greater Sydney. We need a cultural change to stop this and that starts with empowering councils to bring in clear cat containment rules.

‘Despite strong public backing for cat containment, outdated laws in NSW prevent councils from acting. This is a stark contrast to Victoria which has empowered councils to introduce containment rules, and over half have done so. The ACT has also mandated cat containment territory-wide.

‘This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve cat management, empower councils and protect native wildlife from the devastating impact of free-roaming pet cats.

‘We are urging the government to follow the lead of Victoria in allowing local councils to introduce cat containment laws and requiring each council to develop a companion management plan.

‘Roaming pet cats are sending our suburbs silent. Every year they kill around 323 million native mammals, birds, and reptiles.

‘A recent national survey by Monash University’s BehaviourWorks Australia for the Biodiversity Council found that 65% of NSW residents support keeping pet cats contained, with only 9% opposed. 

‘Councillors across NSW have been crying out for stronger powers to manage cats. They know containment is a simple and effective step with profound benefits for wildlife and pet welfare alike.

‘Cats that are responsibly kept at home can live up to 10 years longer than those allowed to roam.

‘We are calling on the government to remove legal barriers preventing councils from introducing 24/7 cat containment, boost funding for responsible pet ownership initiatives, including subsidised desexing and launch a state-wide education campaign on the benefits of cat containment.’

Media inquiries: (02) 8006 5004

Photos and other multimedia to accompany this story are available here.

Background:

  • Over 50% (42) of Victoria’s 79 councils have introduced requirements to keep cats contained all or part of the time, while another 16 are considering introducing containment measures.
  • Collectively, roaming pet cats kill 546 million animals per year in Australia – 323 million of these are native.
  • Around 70% of cat owners in Australia allow their cats to roam, and 78% of these roaming cats hunt.
  • 85% of the animals killed by pet cats are not brought home.
  • On average, each roaming, hunting pet cat kills more than three animals every week  – for a total of 186 animals per year. This number includes 110 native animals (40 reptiles, 38 birds and 32 mammals).
  • Hunting pet cats kill 30-50 times more native animals per square kilometre in suburbs than feral cats kill per square kilometre in the bush.  This is because pet ownership allows inflated density: While feral cats kill 4x more animals per year, there are between 54 and 100 roaming and hunting cats per square kilometre in suburbs compared to only one feral cat for every 3-4 square kilometres in the bush.  
  • Pet cats kill 6,000 to 11,000 native animals per square kilometre each year in urban areas.  
  • When cats prowl and hunt in an area, wildlife have to spend more time hiding or escaping. This reduces the time spent feeding themselves or their young, or resting.
  • An analysis by the Biodiversity Council, Invasive Species Council and Birdlife Australia on the impact of roaming pet cats nationwide is available here.

The Invasive Species Council, along with Birdlife Australia, Nature Conservation Council NSW WIRES and the Australian Wildlife Society, have previously called on the NSW government to:

  • Amend the NSW Companion Animals Act 1998 to enable local governments to enforce anti roaming laws for pet cats at a local level. 
  • Allocate a minimum of $9 million to fund compliance, education, desexing, identification and registration programs. 
  • Encourage local governments to develop companion animal management plans. 
  • Develop a state-wide web resource for pet owners. 
  • Streamline pet identification and registration processes. 
  • Make desexing mandatory state-wide.

Related Content

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Unstrategic, underfunded and uncoordinated: NSW invasive species report calls for major reform
24 fold increase in annual feral horse removals gives Kosciuszko’s native animals a chance
Counting horses in Kosciuszko: a critique of the ‘independent’ survey

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Your support to protect critically endangered and vulnerable species from extinction is vital. Together, we can ensure governments prioritise action on invasive species and protect our wildlife and iconic places.

The Invasive Species Council was formed in 2002 to seek stronger laws, policies and programs to protect nature from harmful pests, weeds and diseases.

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Dear Project Team,

[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Your email address]
[Your postcode]


Dear Project Team,

[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Your email address]
[Your postcode]