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Majority of Victorians oppose 24 hour Cat Curfew
It would be surprising to find general community support for 24 hour cat confinement given the latest reactions to draft Victorian Animal Management Plans.
On July 17, a Melbourne council abandoned plans to introduce a 24-hour cat curfew in the green wedge shire of Nillumbik.
Nillumbik residents, renowned for their active concern on environmental issues, were outraged when they learned they would have to curtail their cats to their own properties around the clock.
On June 10, City of Monash residents have voiced their opposition to a 24-hour cat curfew.
While more than 60 per cent of respondents supported a cat curfew, only 27 per cent saw the 24-hour confinement as appropriate.
Pet shop owners, friends' groups and residents attended focus groups and submitted up to 90 questionnaires and nine written submissions as part of the council's public consultation for its Domestic Animal Management Plan (DAM).
Similarly, on June 10, a draft domestic Animal Management Plan for the City of Greater Bendigo has rejected calls for a 24 hour curfew on cats, along with mandatory desexing and mandatory leashing of dogs at sporting grounds.
Clear evidence of owned pet cats having an impact on wildlife populations, particularly in built-up areas, has not proved to be convincing. For further discussion on this issue click here.
The evidence also suggests that we must ensure to distinguish between owned cats and feral cats when examining the issue of predation on wildlife, and not to discount the effects of human activity such as land clearing, traffic, pollution and noise on wild fauna populations in built up areas.
Victorian government survey findings on cat confinement were presented at the 2004 UAM conference. To read those findings go to page 82, click here.